AU Halo ME: Fate is never set
by Evident Disaster
Summary: This is to you all, hope you like it. Noble SIX X Tali.  Review is where you vote BTW. CHAPTER 26! FTW, I AM BACK... VOTE IS BACK HALO IS BACK, and also the RVB crew! We're nearing the end, i plan a rewrite of the whole story soon.
1. Chapter 1

Halo ME: Fate is never set

This is for 'Remember Reach', please don't kill me.

Sorry to all my readers but I've been playing Halo: Reach for the last few days when it came out, damn I can't earn CR because I do not have Gold on Xbox and I keep getting tempted to play on PS3, this is really killing me here.

Dear, whoever created games better start telling me where to go, because man am I lost.

Now I'm back and better than ever.

Btw the last few stories weren't as good so this one should be better, hope to the (Forerunners) that this is better and please walk the path of true peace or not. (Should you decide I'm horrible?)

This is where fate never decides except for you guys, please email me to give me pointers on what is going to happen because I'm only going to write part of this while the rest of you guys tell me where to push the story to.

And also I will also put options at the end of the stories to focus on what comes next so just email me on where I should go with this.

Noble 6, what was to happen if he had lived?

And the last of the Spartan III with Halsey, what happens to them?

And where are the Chief and Cortana?

Whatever happened to the spirit of fire?

Where did Admiral Cole end up?

And what happened to Jorge? Should I have him return in this story?

Let's see what happens… when all collide in Mass Effect

Chapter 1

Lone Wolf

The haze of war, it had forged him into what he was, a Spartan, it made him a legend amongst humanity and a demon to be feared by his enemies.

'Spartans never die.'

Or so many had believed, but did he?

The world hit him hard, he gasped for air. His face was in the open heat, the sun on his skin, and the zealot class elite in his face holding an energy dagger ready for the kill.

'Guess even legends die, but not yet… not yet…'

The energy dagger never came down, Six's fist was now jammed against the elites neck with a knife sticking through the other side, tossing the zealot off his chest he confronted the last elites, one charged him head on.

He side stepped barely missing his torso, and grabbed the elite from behind, and in one quick and weary move, he then grabbed the head and twisted around with his body mass. A satisfying snap followed as the two dropped on the ground.

But there was no time to rest; the final zealot came at him with energy sword drawn to level of Six's chest, he didn't have time or space to dodge. As the blade came closer, all he did was drop down, the elite's blade passed over his hair, and the heat form the blade could be felt.

The elite, surprised, he had charged and missed at the sudden unpredictability of his opponent, but his surprise didn't last long, the elite stumbled as Six tackled its feet, knocking over both of them.

And from behind, he tackled the elite into the small bombed out building by the side of the dirt road. The zealot was stronger, he was the first to get back on his feet, and slammed Six into the room they had fallen into.

The hard concrete wall was the first thing he came into contact with, it almost broke from the force that he was thrown at, but still Six was determined to fight.

He punched with his right fist while his left held the elite from sticking him in the face, knocking the elite back tackled once more, this time landing by a corpse of a fellow soldier.

The elite quickly turned the table around Six as he now found himself lifted in to the wall of the rooms. Again he landed face forward next to the corpse of the soldier; he saw something on the person that he saw of use.

The elite suddenly grabbed his back and spoke something in its language as it did so; it lifted him to his face, into its gold coloured eyes.

And that was all the space and time Six had needed to stick the razor blade into the elites face, the knife had stuck itself into the back of the throat.

The elite stumbled back, and then gurgled quietly to death, Six now found himself on the ground, tired bleeding and exhausted.

He simply lay on the ground where he fell, lying against the hard floor, he looked up into the sky between the burnt roofs, and he watched the night come taking the blood reddish sky away along with the hazy dusty sky.

'Huh, too late to die, I already passed the torch, my body lies with Reach broken and beaten, but not gone, at least not yet.'

Picking himself up, he stumbled about from his wounds, he searched the room and found himself looking for a medical pack, and took a few hours to clear up the bloody pain, and removing his armour and skin suit he found his body with plasma burns scarring most of his open torso.

Peeling back some layers he cut the burnt bits and pieces, making sure he cleaned the wounds, his arms were surely hairline fractured in places but shrugged off the pain he'll survive.

The next few hours were just simply sitting and waiting for someone or something to happen.

His prayers were answered, sometime during the night, he heard a faint voice.

"Hello, Noble Six please respond. Are you there Noble Six?"

He stood up, he couldn't see, he lost his helmet and the night visibility was covered by the ash clouds in the sky, he searched about looking for the origins of the noise.

He stumbled into the next room, and finally found the source, it was an armoury, and on the ground a UNSC standard portable PC with life glowing from its view screen.

He moved over and cleared the dust, the voice of whomever it was sounded familiar.

"Auntie Dot?'

"Yes, it is good to hear you respond Noble Six."

"How are you still active?"

She explained. "My critical functions at the mainframe were compromised and I deleted all relevant data, I have transferred myself to an orbiting satellite in order to escape destruction, right now I have been looking for you."

"Why?"

"Because I am here to provide assistance, are you wounded?"

He lied. "Not as bad as you could think."

"That is not what I can see from the computers camera."

He noticed the small glowing light.

"Well I can't do anymore, it wouldn't matter Reach has fallen."

"But you have not."

He was curious.

"I know, but there isn't much need for me now is there?"

"No maybe not but you could still help others."

"How am I supposed to help?"

"There are other survivors at a North Western area near CASTLE but I cannot gain connection, all electronic communication cannot cut through the Covenant glassing of the surrounding area, high radiation spikes in the local environment have made this nearly impossible."

"But I did have some orbital cameras that have picked up on some interesting targets, ones specifically that will attain the Covenants attention, we sadly cannot help those at CASTLE directly, but we may distract or hamper the Covenant forces stationed on the planet."

He was all ears.

"What do you suggest?"

"You may be able to cause some interest in the Covenant forces over a technological find they have dug near CASTLE, if there was to be a large enough explosion it might draw their attention."

Another suicide mission, he walked over to the armoury inventory to search for the necessary gear.

"So what would we need to get the Covenant's attention?"

"Supposedly a small FENRIS tactical nuclear device would get their attention, why?"

He looked to Dot and asked.

"Where do we get a tactical nuclear device specifically?"

"Simple solution, you would need to get to the Office of Naval Intelligence non-disclosed weapons development and storage facility near CASTLE."

"And let me guess, is it on the way to the Covenant dig site you mentioned?"

"Affirmative, though you would need me to be present for the activation of the FENRIS warhead."

"And that means you're transferring yourself into the laptop?"

"Yes, my non-essential programs and various functions are being removed and I am transferring to the PC, though the condition of the computer is not in the best of standards, could you please clean and check functions of the computer?"

He was sure Dot would be smiling at this point in time.

"Fine but there has to be a better form of transportation, because it's a two week walk."

August 31st 05:00

Six hadn't slept all that well, he had gotten up early to check for inventory before he moved out, he retrieved his assault rifle and pistol, along with a shotgun and rocket launcher, though there was a few rockets.

He had stocked on hydrogen fuel drums and a few spare batteries, his MKV[B] was in pieces and it needed some extensive repairs, he had replaced his helmet with a marines combat head gear, and was no setting off after the Covenant dig site in the remaining area.

"So, Dot why hasn't the Covenant completely glassed Reach?"

"Unsure as to why the Covenant has not orbitally bombarded Reach, though I have intercepted to some transmission between the Covenant forces of some significant religious artefact that they have been searching for, it may be at CASTLE but I cannot confirm."

He knew that if the Covenant was after whatever it was he needed to stop them.

"So what we need to do is stop them getting their hands on it."

"Affirmative, though there will be many obstacles."

Six didn't mind the odds, he was used to slim chances and bad odds, and this was no different.

The drive to the ONI base was straight forwards across the barren deserts that now represented the desolation caused by the Covenant; it took him three days to get across the desert until he reached a patch of forest that remained within the area surrounding CASTLE. Six did notice the lack of patrols and sufficient search teams, but from what Dot said, there was only a heavy concentration at CASTLE.

Six stopped the car a few clicks off from the bases location as directed by Dot.

He was now scouring the grounds for where Dot had told him to search, he prodded quietly for a hidden entrance, and it wasn't up until he saw a small metal lever in the ground, pulling it up he found a console and lit up.

"Dot what's the password?"

"Unsure, ONI has kept this off the mainframe, and I was unable to access any heavily classified ONI data, but thankfully I have traced the codes from Colonel Ackerson private browsing and access history, uploading to you now."

His visor activated with a set of codes and quickly typed them in, the sudden hissing of the ground opened up to a concealed driveway.

Driving the warthog down, the door closed behind him, the facility was definitely off-site, running on its own power, he reached the end of the driveway and found himself at an access hatch, simply walking through, and it registered his transponder and let him pass.

He found the base was on minimal lighting and energy settings, he looked for a directory on the base only finding that was only three levels and each room was a regular lab size.

He entered the first level in search of the weapons testing equipment and such, he found one still active terminal abandoned during the evacuation.

"Dot can you access the base mainframe from here?"

"Yes but most of ONI removed all vital data on the experiments and such, it will be easy to reboot but reconstruction will take time."

"All I need is control and navigations around this place, nothing else."

Plugging the computer to the terminal Dot took control.

"Uploading to mainframe now, reboot in progress."

The base lighting came on at full and the computer terminals over the base.

Six looked about, and asked. "Dot, where do I need to go for replacement parts of my suit?"

"Down the hallway marked development, it will have parts for a newer model armour and can be added to your own, though data on this part of the suit was removed it is not to dissimilar from your own."

He went down until he reached the development lab inside he found what Dot had said to look for, there stood 3 black red and white variants of the MKV MJOLNIR, and spare equipment, looking about he found that each one was more advanced than his own.

"Dot, are these ones complete?"

"Yes, and no, the suits are the MKV for the Spartan II and most data on their functions were removed though I can use baseline data from your own and construct the programming for each one."

"Do it, by the way I also need a weapon."

"The armoury and weapons storage is on the third level please exercise caution."

Time flew for Six, he was now searching through racks of rifles, MA5C and a BR55 battle rifles were on a trolley he found in the storage room, he also located the FENRIS nuclear devices and a new jetpack as well as prototype gear for the MKV.

He shifted the whole trolley back into the lift, and back to where Dot was reconstructing the functions of the suit, though he had his concerns, the base was empty and there was usually a person left behind to ensure the destruction of data and such sensitive material, or an AI.

"Noble Six, the suit is now complete, and now readily available for use, but there is need for you to check your wounds please report to level two, so that I may be able to help with surgery."

"I thought, that you were only meant for data collection and retrieval, and tactical data?"

"Yes but your injuries require attention before we can proceed with integration with the MKV."

He headed down to level 2, once there found the medical bay, he saw clear tables and Dot in control of one set preparing the table for use.

"Please remove external suit and place surgery gown and then lie on the surgery table so the procedure may proceed."

"Dot, why do I need surgery?"

"It is necessary for removal of wounds and plasma scarring and grafting of new skin, and a specific neural implant is necessary for the use of the MKV."

Six had no reason to distrust and stripped down to his skin, and placed on a medical gown on.

For some reason he felt like Dot was studying him and this was only emphasized when she started the regular tests, and the constantly moving camera over each area oh his body seemed awkward, but none the less the procedure went ahead.

The next few hours were just a blur of actions made by Dot; she had injected him with some anaesthetics to reduce the uncomfortable procedure.

He felt the cool medical table and smell of antiseptic in the air, the procedure went as planned.

Getting up he asked. "Dot was the procedure complete?"

"Affirmative, Noble Six all necessary requirements were met."

He looked about, the clean grafting of his removed skin lying in a biological waste disposal bin and the remains of fresh bandages and Bio foam holding in place over small incisions, he had gone through completely fine.

He did notice that his facial scars in places had been tended to, specifically one on his chin and forehead, his dark short chestnut coloured hair and white blue eyes stood out on the mirror, Six's face looked as it had when the ONI took him, he had never looked at himself in a mirror in a long time after since.

"Noble Six, your new home awaits you."

"Is that humour I hear in your voice Dot?"

"My programming has undergone certain changes, and I am completely functional, you may proceed to level one for MKV access."

Steeping off the surgery table he headed out of med bay to the lift, a short walk into the development room and he found that Dot had used the workshop arms to move it place for him.

The large gold visor and the steel black with the UNSC symbol on the left hand chest plate, this was his new home for what remainder he was going to be on Reach and after.

Stepping onto the measuring pad, the robotic arms began to assemble the necessary parts over the length of his body, and the procedure lasted for fifteen minutes until all he needed was the helmet.

He felt the new sensation of the MKV, he was faster on reflex and strength, he couldn't believe how effective it was, and he did notice that the neural implants were operational and visual enhancements, his vision increased dramatically.

"Please proceed to all necessary tests and shield generator."

After the tests and the shield charger, he had armed himself with his necessary gear, and the FENRIS warhead which was now loaded into the garage for him to pick up, he took some time to prepare by weapons testing and checking his reactions.

And now all he had to do was get to the mission and see how well he'd last.

"Dot, what is the plan of attack here?"

"A Covenant fleet is right now over the CASTLE facility we cannot assist directly, but there is an alternative, I have searched through the Covenant battle net about the location of the artefact. Right now they are studying in the facility, should we destroy that facility we should slow the Covenant progress in the war and provide a distraction."

"So, this means a one way trip?"

"Yes, and maybe no, there is a means of escaping?"

"How, it's not like we can ask the next friendly alien to give us a lift." He responded humourlessly.

"Maybe a friendly ancient species that had left us something to follow by might have."

He was confused. "What are you saying?"

"The object from what the Covenant describes, it is a means of travelling space at expediential speeds, and if we set the FENRIS to detonate after we leave it will not only slow their progress in the war."

"But it might also save our lives."

"Yes, though jumping at random is a risk, we have no idea where we'd end up but from the looks of it the Covenant also doesn't have a clue." He said.

"That is why you have me."

Dot suddenly appeared, this time from her old avatar of lines she appeared in solid state on a holo-tank as a short haired woman with wings and dress, on her body the symbol of a heart appeared.

But something seemed more different from the usual Dot and that was without her sudden change of look, it was attitude and her colour, it was silvery.

"Dot, you sure you're okay?"

"Better than okay, but I thought the change of looks was for the best, besides I never liked talking lines."

"Okay now something is definitely wrong."

"What is it?"

"Your actions are becoming more erratic and I'm sure you can't possibly change from a dumb AI to suddenly smart this doesn't make sense, so that leaves either you're not Dot but another AI, and that means you're the base AI who has gone rampant and removed Dot or simply trying to get my attention."

The avatar smiled, and suddenly changed colour to cool blue.

"Well, you are correct, Dot is no longer here, don't worry she is being kept in a secure area , but yes I am the base Smart AI V-10N474 Vinaya, at your service lieutenant."

"So, may I ask why you are trying to push me into going head first against the Covenant controlled facility?" he asked curiously.

"Because we fight for the same reason, I know who you are, Six or should I call you by your first… Daniel."

It caught him by surprise; no one had ever called him since…

'Daniel, well I guess no one did really know.'

"So if you know who I am then why do you need a hyper lethal killer?"

Vinaya looked at him smiling, something that seemed odd about a Smart AI like herself.

"We are looking for a means of both slowing the Covenant from reaching Earth."

This got his attention and also raised more questions.

"What do you mean, the Covenant don't know where Earth is yet."

"That was not entirely true, the Covenant is getting close and the relay will help them gather the necessary technological leap they need to reach Earth."

"And then checkmate."

This will continue.

1st option: continue to following the plot build up?

2nd option: skip build and forwards into the operation?


	2. Chapter 2

(Sorry for those who wanted the second option.)

7-2

In one day

And I said if there is only 1 vote for a single option for a period of 3 days it goes to it and 3 votes a minimum for selection.

So 7-2 in favour of option 1 means, option 1.

Enjoy the plot build.

(BTW I have named my Noble Six as Daniel.)

The name is canon

Sorry about the structuring it has taken a while to fix a few details up and such; BTW I had to redo all of Revelations and Freelancer.

BTW guess who's in this chapter.

Chapter 2

1st September 2552 ONI off-site weapons development and storage facility

07:00

Daniel-B312, the name he never carried; now he was using it again, more so than usual.

He woke, he slept in, strange Spartans never sleep in, but then again when do they ever have time to sleep?

The room came into focus, he was in the development lab, his armour was still on and he had been lying on the floor without his helmet, he could hear Vinaya, she was humming something.

He decided to interrupt. "Vinaya what are you doing?"

She suddenly stopped and materialised on a console next to him, she was smiling again.

"Good morning to you to, as you needed to know I was remembering something and also you should be happy to know Auntie Dot is active again."

He realised she avoided the actual question. "I only asked what you are doing."

Vinaya huffed. "I was researching on you, or more specifically who you are."

"Wait why?" Daniel was suspicious to Vinaya's interests.

"Well I take it as my responsibility to know if you are capable."

Yes, this had definitely confirmed his suspicions.

"Vinaya, I thought AIs aren't supposed to get attached to people or more correctly Spartans."

Daniel was sure she was blushing if it meant her avatar colour had somewhat turned slightly purple, and reverted back within a few moments of her giving a straight explanation.

"Well… you see, you are right… but I think we can choose who we like without being noticed… maybe a little against regulations on where I stand though. Besides it's not like I can physically touch you, I'm still data and light."

Daniel was definitely sure now, but he was sure enough that her becoming a problem was less likely to happen unless it was with someone else who liked him.

At the present moment, he decided better to leave Vinaya to fanaticise over him than him trying to talk her out of it, if he knew AI they tend not to forget things or people and it was going to be a struggle to get her to stop.

He walked to the lift to get to second floor, the computer core was on the other end of the hall way facing the med bay, and he needed to talk to Dot.

In the lift he kept thinking if he had forgotten something, and rubbed his chin…

'Left my helmet in the room, damn, I'll get it after a talk with Dot.'

Upon arriving in the dark computer core, he noticed Dot was replaying data logs on past events before the fall of Reach, more vividly the departure of the 'Autumn' and its final flight from Reach before glassing.

"So, reminiscing Dot?"

Dot, appeared her avatar of lines rather than humanoid shape, she was switching between a pair of crosses when she spoke.

"No, I am currently reviewing previous battle engagement with the 'Pillar of Autumn' during the final moments before departure. They successfully withdrew but unsure to their condition."

"So, anything else I need to know?"

"No."

"How have you been?"

"I am completely functional; my incarceration by Vinaya had not been as severe."

"I need to know, how she sealed you in the system."

"I was unsuspecting of Vinaya when she had activated a system lock over my programming, a failure in access port 122 was rerouted but unable to bypass and locked my program in port 3211."

"So she set a trap in the destroyed remnants of the system?"

"Yes, she is programmed to instigate failsafe procedures around systems, and has been programmed for specific network jacks and hacking."

Daniel was sure now as to why he didn't see this coming.

"Well, on the off note are we ready to leave, because I think I hear that Covenant dig site calling, and I'm sure their waiting for their demon to come face them."

"Yes all preparations are complete and my transfer into the portable PC is under way, the FENRIS warhead is also aboard the LRV and Vinaya is expecting you up the level."

Daniel chuckled to himself.

"I needed to grab my helmet anyway."

He made his way to the room, and of course was Vinaya looking at him like a teen that just snuck out of the house.

"So, did you forget someone?"

"Vinaya, I can't take you with me, there isn't a second laptop lying on the ground."

She pointed to the rack on the wall.

"Okay, maybe a few, but I don't think I could carry you two with me, it's not like you can live inside my head."

She was smiling more than ever now, which to Daniel that might not be good.

"Well, now you can."

Revealing an open drive, popped out a crystal data chip, Vinaya had planned well ahead.

"This chip will allow me to integrate myself into your suit, through your new neural implants."

Walking over he could see the small chip, it was definitely the same size as the implant he had received in his skull.

Vinaya appeared and started her transfer from the computers of the base and transferred herself into the chip.

"So, now you're in my head, this is going to be one long day."

After the completion of the transfer he picked it up and placed it in the open space, he felt the sensation the rush of cool mercury filled his head, and the world went into a blur before it went back to normal.

"A lot more crowded than I first thought it was, and a lot more secrets, really got to do some cleaning."

"Yes, I know there is a lot of things I have in my head just don't prod in the wrong places."

He could hear her giggling.

"You know for the hyper lethal you seem to have a soft spot somewhere."

"And by the way I'm in here now."

Daniel collected his gear and retrieved his helmet which he had almost forgotten, and preceded to the lift, he packed the hog for the drive to the Covenant dig site.

The drive there was more treacherous because of high concentrations, however due to their single focus at CASTLE, he had a lot less to worry about the constant patrols, and on his way to the site he did catch some interesting communications over some remaining UNSC bands.

"This is outpost B-1 to any UNSC survivors, repeat this is outpost B-1."

Vinaya said. "Should we, help them out?"

"Unsure the Covenant might have picked up on the communications, we have no idea to fully confirm friendlies, but it would be nice to have help."

Turning off the trail to follow the communications, this led him half way across from the main site to a strangely familiar site, the tall spire was the communications source but he had noticed something odd.

The Covenant in the area, and the fact that there were two identical bases in a canyon under attack, I he wasn't mistaken this was a training ground, made specifically for those who have yet to complete actual training, and more to do tests for ONI.

He really wasn't sure why anyone was even here anymore the place should have been disposed at the first sign of Covenant activity.

But from what he could see the survivors were holding their ground, or their bases.

Faintly listening in he could hear the panic from the marines.

"Sarge, what are we going to do, they blew up the hog and they outnumber us twenty to one."

"Yeah and I don't want to die any sooner, and why the hell is Franklin the only one seems to be missing."

(I cannot do Spanish; Lopez is not in this sorry.)

"That's because he's at blue base with Caboose."

"Shut up you two, we need to remove that tank first before we can actually clear the rest of these scumbags."

"Grif I need you to run out there with a pack of grenades strapped to you and blow it to hell."

"Sir, we have rockets."

"No we need a quick means of blowing it up and I need Simmons to hold the fort."

"I can't run fast and the jeep got blown up."

"Well, you'd still die trying to save us wouldn't you?"

"NO."

"Fine, I guess we just wait for the whole horde to come crashing on our heads."

If there was any more incompetence he could hear, there was plenty of it to go around from the sounds of things.

"So, do we really need these guys?"

"Well they might not be the best of the UNSC or the good or even possibly capable, but if it helps."

"Look like somebody is trying to make friends, I think your social issue is wearing off."

"Vinaya, just tell me where to shoot."

"Fine, aim at 30 degrees x by 45 y and then to your left at six hundred meters."

A clear shot took apart the general in charge, the elites responded by scattering and the grunts along with the jackals cleared off.

"Good now there are three zealots…"

She didn't have time to finish as Daniel started rapidly sniping out targets, one struck one of the zealots, and a few more took apart the ultras in command of their grunt packs. He reloaded and continued firing without Vinaya to tell him; locating a dozen more high priority targets he chewed them apart and left the remaining Covenant cannon fodder to be removed by the marines.

"I can see why they say your hyper lethal."

Driving the hog down to the canyon he approached a base with a red flag, it seemed they were using the old CTFs from training grounds back on Onyx.

He could see the sergeant in charge; he wore standard training red and black, looked similar to his MKV [B] variant though ONI did make a few prototypes for soldiers, like ODST, it was not really comparable.

"Are you the officer in charge here?"

The sergeant looked at the shiny new armoured Spartan.

"Yes sir, welcome to outpost-1B blood gulch training grounds."

"It's appreciated, how many of you are there here?"

"Four, but one of us is with the blues on the other side of the canyon, that traitor."

"How many others are there here?"

"Nine, if you can count Sheila, Doc, and sis and not to forget Tex. Though Tex would count as a whole team by herself, it just us and the blues, not really anyone else around here."

Daniel was sure to get his support now.

"Well sergeant you've just been promoted, you're to gather your team and meet me outside of the base within thirty minutes, and you're going to help me."

Sarge was more surprised at what the Spartan had just told him than actually seeing him.

"Right sir, we'll gather our things."

Daniel drove to where the other base was, he knew that this was going to be a long day.

Option 1- So should I continue with RVB crossover to help? And also should I have Wash in the story?

Option 2- Should we forward ahead from these guys to where they leave and begin the suicidal attack on the Covenant artefact? And what about meeting the citadel on the other side?


	3. Chapter 3

This is only going ahead if people chose number 2 for this part of the story.

And have a nice day

Chapter 3: Dog days

Three hours later…

1st September 2552

12:05

Cleaning up on the Covenant at the blue base was not necessary, it seemed as though there was no need for him, because he found out that there were already a few washouts from before.

Daniel was now more than ever sick of how these marines even whine about every little thing, it had been over three hours waiting for the blue team to even get here, and the training tank they had brought along wasn't helping.

Caboose as the single most strongest and most childlike was the easiest to get to work with, though did have a tendency to wander about.

The rest of blue team consisted of a failure named Tex or Alison-A231. Daniel had never known that she had ended up as a tester on Reach, from her record she had failed the process and attempted to escape, but was captured and placed in training elsewhere.

She was the one to kill practically every elite before he even got there, and that said.

"She's not all that good, you know." Vinaya was not happy, she didn't like Daniel to lose interest in her, especially with Tex smacking in an elite with its own skull…

Another was Wash-A295, he was probably well known to getting the job done but fails to be effective as a team person, it was obvious that he used to have problems with his augmentation, supposedly going insane, he was also removed and placed here for… said safety precautions.

Nothing else both than those two, both were probably most capable, and then there were the other soldiers within the camp.

Church, a rather bad sniper but the probably most willing participant out of all the others, he seemed the most normal but did not want anything to do with fighting.

Tucker, the most soldier like out of all the blues, excluding Wash and Tex, he is the most capable soldier and the most unlucky, he has proven himself in combat okay.

Somewhat strange, a medic named Duffrane, was a pacifist, not the worst person to have here and not the best, even for a medic he could help but in the long run Daniel doubted he'd survive, Doc could patch everyone up easy but in a combat situation it'd be hard.

Sister, was the most strange, by far, she had this peppy attitude that seemed to get her into trouble and she didn't even have proper armour, just plastic combat gear and Kevlar, for her troubles she seems reasonably okay if she is with those who can tell her what to do.

Sheila, is a tank, an armoured scorpion tank, how on Reach they had managed to get their hands on something like this he'll never know, but for one sure thing Shelia is probably the most combat efficient, though the old MBT was never really designed to house AI, Daniel decided to have her transfer to Caboose as a data pad later.

They had all gathered including Donut at the edge of the canyon to begin their final farewell to this ditch.

Daniel had taken inventory on everything necessary to spearhead the Covenant dig site, there was ammo, and plenty of ordinances, and the tank and warthogs would supply means of transport, all they needed to do was go.

And go they did after going back for two days, because they forgot the Hydrogen cells, and then Donut left his heater on, and then Simmons forgot the lawn.

The drive was longer than expected and they had to avoid major areas, and scouting parties which were scouring about, Daniel had expected much shorter but this was as good as it got.

3rd September 2552

Covenant dig site alpha

10:15

And now things went wrong, in less than 10 minutes the whole thing seemed to go straight to hell.

A plasma mortar exploded next to Daniel, and blew the warthog up; red team was pinned behind a wall and couldn't get to the dig site itself, even though it was less than a few hundred meters ahead.

Somehow blue team was faring better, but in saying this it was because they were on the other side not getting shot at as much, and Church for being as he was pissed was missing a lot.

The tank was getting driven about by Caboose who had done better but was shooting at everything alien or non-human.

Tex and Wash were already up the spire to the top of the structure and was kicking the crap out of everything, until they found hunters, and the elite generals waiting, and then there was the Doc and sister who managed to get themselves captured, but Tucker saved them. Don't even ask.

And where Daniel was, is anybody's guess, right ahead without the exception of Tex and Wash, he had managed to get to the top without getting stuck or shot at, he really didn't know if that was really sad or just retarded, or luck that saved him.

'Well at least they're good for distractions, especially with Caboose shooting everything that moved, including the elites, who had realised this and now started taking cover.'

Daniel couldn't help those poor guys, it was just too much work and this was a Spartans opinion.

Now he was inside the structure and heading to the artefact, Vinaya called it a relay, and all he knew about it was, it was big and she meant big.

He entered the chamber in which it was held, surprisingly large, nearly 200m in length or more he couldn't tell from where he was standing, but it was big.

It had a circular metal ring around it for people to get closer and such but right now all he could see were elites and a few engineers busy trying to get access to the damn thing, and he was going to stop them.

Any good Spartan knew if there was a way in there was a way out, dropping the FENRIS he began his final run, there was seven elites standing between him and the relay, and each one was sure to get in his way.

But first he had Dot load onto the ancient alien console so she could begin the activation of the relay, this was going to be fast though, putting her down, he left her to begin the activation and detonation sequence of the FENRIS in 15 minutes.

And all that had to be taken care of was the elites, he drew his MA5C and charged the first ultra, rounds pinged of the shields until it began digging into the armour, he dropped half a clip into the elite before it died.

He proceeded to going onto the next, which was two Zealots, he did have time to drop one shield but the other got to close, knocking the rifle out of his hands, he tackled the closest one into the relay, the other zealot grabbed him from behind, but never got to use the energy sword.

Daniel reacted fast enough to swing about and bring his arm to bear, smashing across the head of the elite; he heard a sickly cracking sound, the elites mandibles had cracked and face on one side was definitely dented in.

Daniel dropped the dying elite on the ground and turned to face the other which he tackled earlier, it had managed to regain balance and was charging him as well, and he quickly took a combat stance and waited for the elite to get close.

Less than a few feet he moved out of the way of the sword, and elbowed the back of the elites skull, the zealot hit the ground hard, but wasn't finished, getting back up to swing his energy sword at him, dodging once more Daniel pulled his combat knife out and from behind he grabbed the mandibles and pulled back, the elite was in agony but was replaced with a numb feeling in its neck.

Daniel tore the knife back, the elite's throat was split open, and dropped to the ground lifeless, cleaning his blade.

"This is what you get when you mess with a Spartan."

Vinaya was laughing.

"Well, it looks like Emile's cocky attitude has rubbed off on you, too bad not in size."

"Vinaya, no cock jokes please."

She huffed as usual.

"You're no fun."

He didn't forget about the other elites and more specifically they were, right behind him, and each one had an energy sword at hand.

"Looks like fun."

It wasn't until Dot came over the intercom.

"Final procedures are complete, initiation of relay in 30 seconds."

Daniel asked.

"Dot, what did you just do?"

"Vinaya said for an escape route and now you have one."

The relay that was empty at the core suddenly activated, the energy became brighter and brighter, he barely could see anything until…

Everything was gone.

XXXXX

Location: Serpent Nebula, Citadel, Presidium, 2182- six months before the attack on Eden Prime

The Presidium, the active centre of galactic politics and business, here we have the beautiful gardens and clean waters, and a large statue of a krogan, along with the most notable object, the Relay Monument.

To a certain captain of the HSA this was another day smacking his head against a wall, David Anderson had arrived on the Citadel because of a candidate needed for the Council spectres; he had just finished his talks with admiral Hackett and ambassador Udina.

Now he was wandering along the railings past the gardens, he thought this was the most serene and calming place on the entire citadel, but it was masking the politics and business that is usually harsher than what people would imagine.

He walked along to the relay monument by the bridge, the protheans monument of the relays and their testament to galactic society or so what people believe, he did notice something odd though.

There was a spark of energy, it was small but fairly noticeable, it wasn't until he got closer that he noticed that it was growing, a large pulse of energy blasted its way across knocking Anderson over and anyone else in the vicinity, he got back up and hopped back in shock.

"What in the hell, is that an actual relay?"

The relay was now glowing more than ever, but it was seemingly unstable, and then something came through or someone.

Figures suddenly pulled from wherever came crashing to the ground, all of them armoured.

A black armoured soldier with a rifle smacked into the ground hard and left a large area of a crater, and beside him were four large aliens, much bigger than a krogan and taller than anyone around.

The aliens got back up the fastest, along with the armoured warrior, they were all disorientated, one tried walking but collapsed again, the others though seemed to be faring better.

C-sec quickly responded with two whole squads arriving to contain the situation in a matter of minutes, people were panicking as the aliens began talking amongst themselves, confused or just dumbfounded.

One officer human got to close, trying to translate, the alien grabbed him by the neck with its left arm and knocked the pistol out of his hands, the suddenly its right suddenly glowed bright, as a blade of light solidified.

'Directed energy weapons?' Anderson thought.

The alien was just about to impale the poor officer until a gunshot rang out.

"Drop the poor guy ugly and come and face me."

The black armoured soldier was up now and was speaking plain English, and he had a pistol in his hand, he fired another shot which knocked the aliens arm, dropping the officer onto the ground.

The aliens turned their attention to it, and began growling; one which had collapsed suddenly focused its rage at the soldier and charged head first with its energy sword.

The soldier began to fire rounds into the alien and then pulled back a rifle; it unloaded rounds until the alien dropped to the ground, smoking holes over the area of its body.

'Bullets, why is he firing antique bullets?' Anderson thought as he took cover.

The others aliens began a mad rush, and the soldier responded by pulling back two knives and ran at them, the first alien in blue armour swung its sword but missed and was struck in the face by a knife it dropped on the ground dead.

The second alien, tried too but also missed its mark, the soldier's knives were slammed into the throat of the alien and was pulled back severing the head, the blood splattered about anyone who was to close.

This gory sight made Anderson's stomach turn, never had there ever been such a bloody sight in all of his life, even during the war.

The final alien, pulled two blades out and tried to impale to soldier, both missed, but it was too close to the soldier and knocked the soldiers face, the helmet buckled under the force and came clean off.

There was a soldier but he was human, his face bore definite scars of war, and his face was pale, and his hair was short and raven black, and his eyes were a pale blue almost defiant in looks, but the most interesting thing was that he looked young.

He tackled the elite head on, knocking back the energy swords, and then planting his fist into the face of the alien, he pulled out a knife and brought it upwards, and it entered the cranium from underneath and shattered it.

The alien dropped onto the ground and simply went limp.

Anderson and the rest of spectators were horrified at the scene, there was blood seeping the ground at nearly every direction and it only made more people sure that the soldier was no ordinary person.

C-sec director, who had arrived to also see the spectacle, was nervously twitching his mandibles.

"Apprehend that human, and clean up this mess."

Though most of the officers were sure that might be a bad idea, the soldier was simply smiling at the sight before him, he was in some sort of deep thought, and some people didn't want to be in the vicinity of this scene ever again.

Anderson watched as the soldier suddenly collapsed, the C-sec officers were stunned as they approached, they tapped the armour just to be sure, and when they were, they attempted to lift him, but this was proven much harder, it took nearly eight people to lift him onto a secure shuttle.

Anderson decided he'd rather not be around and moved back to the human embassy.

A few hours later

Once there, he of course was faced by Udina who demanded an explanation.

"Four aliens killed by a human and on the Presidium, and each of unknown origins, we were looking at a first contact situation from this until that walking grim reaper took them apart, the council is demanding an explanation."

Anderson couldn't see why he was being asked, he did notice his uniform was covered in whatever blood the aliens had and forgot to change.

"Well it's not like we can change what's happened, C-sec has the soldier in custody and the evidence has been taken care of."

"Evidence, there are four alien bodies lying in a morgue with unknown classification of armour and weaponry with a human who has mysteriously come out of nowhere and seemingly caused a slaughter."

Then the com started beeping, Udina looked and was surely rushing.

"The council is on the line, we have been requested to immediately explain, that includes you too Anderson."

Anderson was surprised at this and simply said.

"Fine, but I don't know what I could possibly do to help."

Hitting the com switch the holograms of three most powerful representatives appeared.

The Turian councillor, Asari, and the Salarian, they all were looking at them like there was something they had to hide.

"This meeting was requested for the exact explanation of what has occurred on the presidium ambassador." The asari calmly stated.

"Yes, we would like to know as to why there was a massacre of aliens down on the presidium right on our doorstep." The turian councillor said.

"We cannot explain as to why this has occurred…"

"But it has, and the evidence is being withheld at C-sec HQ, with the detainment of a single human male, but something has caught our eyes, the report on medical says his body was genetically augmented, drastically so, is this some kind of weapon that you and humanity was developing in secret, because the policy still stands on such things."

At this point both Udina and Anderson was both caught off guard.

"We had no idea, we haven't even…"

"Haven't what, had time to give the child an explanation as to why he was turned into a living weapon, there is…"

Anderson interjected.

"There is no evidence that this is not some work of a madman or external force, the Human Systems Alliance has no play in whatever has occurred."

The turian shut up.

And then it was the Salarian councillor's turn to ask.

"That maybe the case, but there is no way to confirm, the HSA has no part in this is not the point it is wether humanity has, ambassador and captain, there is a danger if someone has created living weapons."

The asari decided to remind them.

"This investigation will go further and if there are conclusive findings as to humanities involvement, then there will be consequences."

And then she concluded.

"This meeting is adjourned."

The three councillors faded out of view.

Udina looked nearly beat, he turned to face Anderson.

"You need to find out as much as possible Anderson, there is no greater or more necessary need to identify this issue and get the answers we need before the council decides to remove us."

"So now you need me?"

"Yes."

He paused.

"There is no excuse for the removal of humanity from the citadel we need to make an immediate amends I'll be here to get the necessary calls to pull some space and see if there is something we can salvage."

"Fine, I'll see what I can do."

(Udina will only be more co-operative when is job is on the line.)

Sorry to rush this but we only needed to get here and ME from here on in.

Option 1- We fast forwards to the meeting with the council and report made by Daniel after a short view point when he wakes up?

Option 2- (OPEN FOR ALL) Need answer within two or three days.

((((((((Should I bring back Jorge?)))))))))

Come on I need an answer!


	4. Chapter 4

ED: I never knew someone had already done Cerberus, I thought I was the only one doing the Noble six things. Damn I better not start to have to shift view, wait did I say this out loud?

(Well here you have it)

I do not own Bungie or Bioware

Thanks for 20,000 views, love you all

Except that prick, I know who keeps sending me spam.

C-sec HQ seven hours later

Daniel, how he had arrived here was unsure, he was sleeping, or more like a coma, when he arrived he had nearly blacked completely out, but focused once more and took out the remaining elites.

He was now, in a cell or more to the point locked with restraining belts around his body and arms and legs, the aliens which did this were definitely frightened, he was going to escape when he noticed humans among the mix.

'What's going on here, aliens being friendly and this place being nearly backwards to the UNSC?'

He heard the opening of the door and some comments being exchanged.

"Sir, we advise caution, we don't know if he is awake or not and we cannot guarantee your safety if he attempts to escapes."

"Then all the more reason to speak with him now than later."

Daniel heard the footsteps approach and said.

"You know you might want to listen to the officer, they tend to know."

"Yes, well soldier, they also know not to stop a superior."

Daniel looked up, there was a person dressed in a navy officer like uniform though more elaborate than UNSC.

"So, you're the soldier that killed those aliens down by the relay monument?"

"Well since you're asking then yes, but there called elites not aliens and if you need to know I was right in the middle of getting rid of them."

"Getting rid of, it seems more like you were cleaning house there, there was none left alive to even get a peep out of, and humanity's embassy here on the Citadel is now under jeopardy because of what you did there."

"Humans working with aliens, this place must be different, though I might want to add where I come from humanity is under threat from aliens that have killed billions and glassed hundreds of worlds all in the name of their gods, and we aren't even given a warning we're just killed off."

Anderson was shocked at this revelation. He couldn't really imagine humanity being slaughtered by billions or such a war starting.

"So, then you know what you are?"

"Of course, a Spartan, born to lead humanity to victory and salvation, there is no other thing the Covenant fear more than me."

"What is the Covenant?"

"A religious pact made by different species and agreed upon, who work together attempting to wipe humanity out of existence."

"And so you're a soldier in all of this?"

"Yes."

"By the way I have to ask but you didn't see my helmet lying anywhere did you?"

"It's in C-sec labs, their trying to figure out how it works."

"Good luck, they aren't going to get far."

"What would you say if I released you?"

"I'd be grateful, because then I wouldn't have to break the guards necks and shoot everyone in my way."

Anderson was disturbed by the comment made.

"Besides these straps aren't that good, and you might want to stand back."

The super soldier simply stood up and ripped the straps over his armour and body, it was like paper.

He simply looked to Anderson and then saluted.

"So what is your name Spartan?"

"Lieutenant Daniel 312 Spartan Three at your command."

Anderson returned the salute.

"Captain Anderson, HSA, welcome Lieutenant."

The captain offered a handshake and Daniel took it slightly hesitantly, he never really was good at meeting new people.

The two forwarded out of the room, and the guards thought better not to shoot at the eight foot super soldier.

"So, I need a weapon."

"Don't rush things soldier." Anderson said with a motion of his hand.

"Sir, I was just asking." He said reassuringly.

They were in the main lobby where security seemingly had jumped, there were more guards in range than that of most of the wards, and they were there to keep an eye out.

Eventually heading down to the labs where they had stored most of Daniels gear.

He found a blue skinned alien which looked more human at first, arguing to a strange reptilian like alien about something over Covenant weapons set out on the table.

"I keep telling you it has to be some kind of magnetic field; it can't just track targets out of nowhere."

"Yes but look at this there is no magnetic field displacement or any such thing, so it has to because there's no energy emissions."

They noticed the super soldier standing behind the alliance naval officer.

"Well, looks like you two are having fun."

The asari was the first to speak.

"Umm, we have very limited idea as to how these technologies even function."

"That's because that's a needler, and UNSC scientist spent nearly twenty years trying to figure it out, and still haven't gotten anything conclusive. You might have better luck with the plasma rifle."

They were listening closely.

"I'm Daneil-312, and you over there have very useless amounts of weaponry, the plasma rifle would be your best bet."

The two were surprised that the soldier had experience with such weapons.

"Well, I am Professor Dasa'turis and this is…"

"Fulinsh and I have worked with you for how many years?"

"Five and you still refuse to help."

Daniel decided to interrupt.

"Sorry for me asking but do you have my helmet around here?"

The two looked at him and then pointed to the table at the end of the room; he went over and picked it up.

Dasa said.

"The helmet you are using is very unique, never though it was capable of advanced neural integration, but the weapons you are using seem, antiquated, they use bullets and ammunition from nearly a century back, they are large though, probably large enough to tear kinetic barriers apart."

Fulinsh agreed.

"I have to concur your means of consumption of ammunition is quite out dated, there is also no trace of element zero anywhere."

Daniel was confused.

"What is Element zero?"

The two scientists were surprised; there was no one who wasn't a child that didn't know what Element Zero was.

"It runs most of our technology and provides us with the necessary means of FTL and fuel; it is needed in a number of areas of society."

Well at least he had the basic description.

"Well, no known UNSC vessel uses Element zero and neither does the Covenant, we use slip-space."

Now it was the scientists turn to be interested.

"Then what does slip-space do?"

"It's a means of travelling FTL, it is subspace just faster than breaking past the barrier of light, and we can change from normal to slip-space."

The scientists were surprised at how such things were possible.

Daniel decided to break the ice.

"You haven't seen a laptop anywhere have you?"

The two pointed over to the desk next to him, Dot was hopefully still functional.

Anderson who decided to go talk to Udina over the com finished and watched what Daniel was trying to do.

Checking the condition he found the screen had broken, which was not a good sign, bringing it over to where he found a terminal, he linked it with what seemed like a port hoping it would work.

"Dot, are you there?"

The terminal stayed blank until, a few lines of data and symbols changed and then suddenly a familiar set of patterns appeared.

"Daniel, are you alright?"

"I should be the one asking you that question."

"My systems suffered power loss but I was saved thankfully during transition."

Anderson was watching as the conversation between Daniel and the VI, he was quite surprised that it seemed more lifelike.

"There is someone behind you."

Anderson realised that it was an AI, but he also noticed that Daniel was looking at him.

"You know it's not nice to stare."

Anderson explained.

"Well, I have just gotten a call from ambassador Udina; he wants you to report to the embassy, and somehow explain your actions and reasons for being here."

Anderson looked back to Dot.

"It seems there's a lot more to this?"

Daniel could only chuckle and reply.

"You have no idea."

Anderson recomposed himself to ask.

"We need to finish up soon, the council would like to speak with you and Udina and me, but there might be a problem with having an AI with you, the citadel flagged AIs as illegal and was to be destroyed."

Daniel wasn't going to let anyone touch Dot, or Vinaya, they were both in charge of his Intel and his life, and the UNSC data both withheld.

"Sir, then I would say we'll get to it when we are at that very point."

Picking up Dot and his helmet, Daniel noticed that Vinaya wasn't there, and almost forgot where she had gone to.

But there was little time, he'd set Dot to go looking after the meeting.

The two departed from C-sec and took the rapid transit straight to the tower, unbeknown to them that Vinaya was keeping an eye out for a surprise.

-C-SEC: ID.112 – ID.109-

Tracking target to Citadel tower, pursue? Y/N

ID.109. Y: The Illusive Man does not wish to lose sight on target item 1

ID.112: Y: Acknowledged, but there might be a problem securing any of the tech, it's in 'their' hands now, I cannot approach the area without detection.

ID.109: Do not concern yourself with that area just yet; we have 104 – 106 already prepared to retrieve.

ID.112: Okay, then I'll continue tracking item 1.

-C-SEC: ID.112 – ID.109- END TRANSMISSION

30 minutes later

Citadel Tower

Daniel had managed to go over the summary of the UNSC and Covenant war; it sent definite shivers down Anderson's spine as he had never known that such a thing could have happened.

"But that doesn't explain how you arrived here on the citadel, the security footage caught what happened after the energy blast but not before, and also when you came through the relay monument the investigation turned up nothing."

Dot answered this.

"My experience is that we arrived by the relay on our end of our relay but there is not sufficient data either than the direction in which our relay swung us at, though it would not provide enough data either than a simple miscalculation from rushing the jump."

Anderson knew that there was little that this would do, but Daniel was enough evidence by himself and Dot who withheld all the details but something didn't sit right, Daniel was also a super soldier, and a very deadly one at that. He only knew what he was told, the Spartans were based on genetic augmentations from selected ranks of military, but the scans from the investigations showed he was pre-adolescent when he received his, so this meant he wasn't telling or he was lying.

Either way, if Daniel told them why the reason for his augmentations it would help, but it also might hurt any more chances of the HAS or the ambassadors chances of explaining.

Now arriving they hurried up the flight of stairs, Udina was there to greet him in his fine mannered way.

"Hurry, up the council is getting impatient and the report from C-sec hasn't helped…" Udina paused at the sight of a seven foot black armoured soldier, the gold visor seemed to stare at him.

Anderson broke the moment with introducing Daniel.

"Ambassador I'd like you to meet Daniel 312, the soldier who had arrived on the Citadel, from wherever he was, but he has an explanation."

"I see, well, we shouldn't keep the council waiting. You know how to present yourself soldier?"

"Sir Yes sir, I can present a compelling explanation but it might just raise more questions, but I do have a means of explanation."

"Very well, Anderson and I will present the findings and get this resolved hopefully for the better."

XXXXX

(HERE IS SOMETHING SPECIAL)

2552/3/9

Alpha dig site Reach

Just after Daniel left.

"Hey, where's that Spartan got to?" Sarge said as he walked into the chamber.

Simmons appeared with an explanation. "Well from the looks of things I'd say he's either gone into the giant glowing relay, or he's gone and left us the bomb and run off, or both."

"Wait how do you know he went into that thing?" Griff pointed as he looked about.

"Because the computer here says that someone activated it, and he left the bomb right over there."

Simmons pointed to the cylinder like object with the time on 5 minutes.

"Oh, so what says you that we should run for the unknown glowing thing and hope we live?"

The team said in unison.

"Yeah, last one there is FUBAR."

They all sprinted, with Griff hopping behind as usual.

Blue team also arrived with Tex leading and said.

"Hey where do you think you're going?"

Reds only said.

"Where the hell do you think, that Spartan left us with the bomb."

Blue team noticed it as well, with the absence of Caboose's attention.

Church could only say.

"So, is anyone capable of disarming long cylinder bombs?"

Tucker interjected with.

"Well seeing as you're asking, I think I left my bomb kit in my other pants but I think it's too late to stop that before it blows. Bow chicka W…"

A hard smack from Tex shut him up.

"So who wants to run?" Church said absently, and realising the team was already sprinting.

"Hey, that's not fair come on."

Lopez walked in about three minutes later. (Yeah he's finally here.)

'Spanish' "Where is everybody?"

He looks at the bomb and notices the timer on 10 seconds.

"Son of a Bitch."

BEEEP.

Will Lopez survive?

Where will the RVB guys end up?

And will I get to finish my new Gundam VS Mass Effect story?

Just go to my profile to check and read.

Continue to chapter 4

What will the council's reaction be?

We need to know, or I need to know because my sis is too busy playing on my Xbox which kind of sucks. (Bloody Assassins Creed II)I know it's awesome but really long, and I can't play Reach because of her.

Option 1- We fast forwards to when the Normandy is nearing completion and he joins the crew

Option 2- We go over some time to Shepard and introduce him/her?

Which gender and style should I choose as well as class?

Come on I need an answer!


	5. Chapter 5

Later in the Afternoon

-Now let's see what the council will have to say-

Daniel had never been in the presence of politicians or the high members of society for very good reasons, the fact that he was a soldier and also because he was trained to act first rather than talk, but more so if in the face of alien politicians and alien populace.

He kept his urge to somehow remove his hidden knife in his armour and slice apart the nearest guard, which there were about 10 surrounding him and another 20 guarding the council chamber; he was sure enough that he had intimidated them alone.

The council chamber was slightly round with a small bridge which led over a decorated garden, this though was no longer the point seeing the bridge was retracted and the guards were on the balconies on both sides of him, he moved along with Udina and Anderson to greet the council.

There was a bit of uneasy shuffling on the council's side as they were unsure of what to make of the 7ft super soldier armed with only his armour, but even so he proven down on the presidium even armour can take damage and return it.

The blue skinned alien he was told about was councillor Tevos an asari which Dot had informed him about, he was unsure to what to make of her either than her calm complexion, and maybe the face markings, she opened the meeting.

"This meeting of the council is now in session, the evidence to the incident of Daniel 312 has been post examined by the security members from C-sec and all findings to the violations of code on the human systems alliance."

Udina was the first to respond accordingly, or what seemed accordingly.

"The human systems alliance dismisses these charges of violation of protocol and code, the specific human in question is of no part related to the alliance."

The turian councillor Altri replied accusingly.

"Then ambassador why is this human wearing military grade armour and using military codes similar to your own, or is it the fact that humanity decides they can play with fire outside the jurisdiction of the citadel?"

Daniel was not too happy with the turian councillor and was really wishing he could beat some sense into that smug face of his.

"That would not be of our concern if he was augmented outside of the reaches of the citadel and was not done by the human systems alliance then he is not part of this political debacle councillor."

Anderson said with confidence.

"So are you willing to let the council decide the fate of his actions?"

The salarian councillor Valern said.

Udina would probably have said yes but Anderson beat him to it.

"Daniel 312 is in his own right to defend himself though and any actions he has performed will be accounted for by the human systems alliance."

The councillors were surprised; the fact that they were letting the super soldier defend himself but would still be supported by the HSA, Udina was at this point fuming at Anderson.

"Then so be it, Daniel 312 step forwards." The asari councillor said.

He did so but was slightly hesitant at first, but made his way forwards and took a firm posture to face the three councillors.

"You have been given permission to explain your actions during the incident that occurred on the presidium."

He replied. "I will explain the best I can."

"You attacked and terminated four aliens of unknown origins."

"It was in self-defence and the protection of civilians within range of me."

The turian councillor huffed at this and said.

"Then why could you not have spared them?"

"My training and habit of combat has driven me to only terminate the covenant contacts on sight rather than ask questions."

The salarian asked. "The covenant who are they?"

At this point Daniel never got a chance to say.

"The covenant, a homogeny of alien culture and civilisation in search of a religious path of technology and enlightenment, they are completely xenophobic and conservative towards their belief, will not hesitate to uphold this belief with force."

A sudden turn of eyes to the sound and of course, Daniel knew she would be back.

Vinaya was materialised at human proportions on the holographic projector next to the council members, she had given them quite a surprise.

"So how is my favourite Spartan getting along with the locals?" She said as she looked in Daniels direction.

The councillors and everyone within range stood surprised except Daniel, the last thing he needed was to have Vinaya scaring the aliens into having humanity here in trouble which she already has.

"An AI, h… how do you explain this?" The Turian councillor said.

Vinaya answered faster than him.

"Well, I'm an artificial intelligence program from where ever my knight in shining black armour came from and he was consequently thrown here because of a relay on our side and slung him into your universe here, and please don't call me a thing or AI because if you do, it won't be pretty."

Her eyes stared down at the turian councillor, who flinched slightly out of fear, the guards who were there tensed. And Udina was pale as a ghost, while Anderson was shaking his head, now was probably the best time for Daniel to do something.

He said to Vinaya. "And you know jumping in without an proper invitation is bad manners."

She looked at him with her more innocent looking face and said.

"Oh, but you know I like to make an entrance, besides it wasn't as though you could explain everything, and though you are as good as you have been at making friends."

The others in the chamber were starting to look more bemused at the development with Daniel and Vinaya, but he knew it was going to cause more problems.

The asari councillor decided to ask.

"Do you have control over this AI?"

"Sadly no, we never needed to, our AI are designed to be human like we never have that problem with control unless rampancy."

Vinaya interjected. "And of course I still have a few more years left, and thanks to their AI development I have included more lines of new data and coding to help expand that, so a bit more before rampancy."

The asari was convinced enough to ask.

"So there is no problem with your AI from rebelling?"

"No there completely safe, though Vinaya is more reactive to other people and things."

The salarian asked. "We cannot allow AI in citadel space because of strict restriction and the risks, though are you so sure to have this AI as your companion?"

"I already have another AI, though I doubt Vinaya would be too happy to let her stay in my head."

The councillors were surprised, he had another AI, but they didn't understand what he meant by his head.

Pulling the computer link out of his helmet removed Dot and prepared to transfer Vinaya, though the councillors weren't going to be happy with this.

"Vinaya transfer to my neural uplink and I'll get Dot to move into external output to the network."

She looked at him and said. "Finally, it is good to be going home never really liked this open network the systems are too weak and the orange colour I don't like."

She suddenly vanished and was replaced by another woman but more in military rather than what Vinaya had.

"Transfer complete, lieutenant is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No dot I think were fine and you should just stay just here for the time being."

The turian asked, with a bit of confusion.

"How is this possible for you to transfer AI to yourself without the need of a blue box?"

Dot answered with a calm complexion that made the whole tension drop.

"My program is capable of transfer as any AI to any external uplink module for storage and our unique designs make it possible for even small transfers."

Daniel decided to explain to the councillors.

"Dot here will be staying on the citadel, I can't fit two AI into the neural uplink installed and the laptop I have is too damaged for any future use so I would have to leave her here, unless you would want me to leave you with Vinaya?"

The councillors were concerned; there were two AI, one seemed very calm and composed, and the other a psychotic woman who would most likely cause havoc.

The three councillors said in unison. "NO."

"Then I'm sure Dot can answer any questions relative to my situation and our origins."

The councillors thought so to, they had spent enough time already.

"This meeting is concluded, Daniel 312 you may leave, but there is concern to your AI Vinaya, please restrict her to only yourself and only specific point outside the citadel."

"Acknowledged, Vinaya would never leave me anyway." He said.

"Good day, lieutenant." Dot said before he left.

The three humans left down the flight of stairs while the councillors conversed with Dot.

Udina was sure to have a stroke.

"Why did you not tell me about this?" He said to Anderson.

"Because it would only make matters worse, and Daniel did handle himself well."

Udina turned his attention to Daniel. "You better keep your pet out of public sight soldier, or there will be more than a stampede if the news of a human AI came out."

"Will do sir, Captain Anderson may I ask?"

"Go ahead."

"I would like to join with the human systems alliance; my expertise in military training has already taught me far enough and with certain technological I may be more of use rather than that of civilian."

Anderson thought this through, the HSA would have a super soldier capable enough and a technological asset but the public would not be too pleased to hear of such occurrence.

"Well then, Daniel welcome to the HSA, though you will need to be tested at a proper training facility and the equipment you are using will have to be adjusted, the training will be simple and hopefully short, you will report to the alliance dock at 1200hrs tomorrow."

Daniel replied with a respectful salute. "Sir, yes sir."

Vinaya said over the internal speakers. "Oh well, boot camp again."

XXXXX

15:45

It had been just 40 minutes since talking to the council, Daniel had been granted temporary accommodations in the wards before heading out, though he needed to retrieve some belongings from C-sec labs.

Dara and Fulinsh were at it again and he had very little time to answer some of their questions, Vinaya offered her services to tell them but Daniel suggested to her that might not be the best of things to do.

He was searching through the last of his equipment that came with him; all of the contents were in a duffle bag he brought. A jetpack still in good condition, the armour lock, and two sets of holograms, cloaking, and the rest of his weapons, one DMR, MA5C, BR55, M6 Magnum, and a mixture of grenades.

Though he decided to also take some covenant weapons too, though most were destroyed during the drop and by the investigation into their function by the scientists, he managed to get, one focus beam long rifle and a plasma repeater and a concussion launcher.

Though he doubted the concussion launcher had enough ammo, the plasma he could refill with council tech or alliance, Vinaya had given him some schematics from SECIII of covenant weapon designs, and he now knew how to at least reload the weapons.

Finally saying his goodbye to the two scientists and good luck, he went to his room at the hotel.

Though this was not really an uneventful trip, he did notice something strange, there were about five people tracing his every move, they had similar clothes and different genders but they looked military like, though they blended to the crowd well, Spartans are always on alert.

He made his way through a place called Centrice wards level 11 not to far from the hotel, the mystery stalkers made their way in front and back, two in front male and female at least in their twenties, and three behind two males and one female though he could tell age he knew they didn't seem as experienced.

He made his way forwards when the two people in front decided to get in his way.

The man was the one to speak.

"You know there are a lot of people who are interested in you, and some willing to pay a lot for the things you know, and the items you are carrying."

Daniel replied. "Well they better start to learn that the person they might be interested in doesn't want trouble or want to disappoint them."

"Well then, that might be a problem." The man gestured to the three people from behind suddenly armed, the other persons around suddenly started to clear away from the scene.

The man himself pulls out a strangely crafted pistol and the woman next to him pulls out what looked like a shotgun.

"You know this will end up with all you either dead or incapacitated, or both, but seeing as your new to how I work I'll give you the count of five, to run like hell." Daniel said.

He began counting down. "Five, four, three (Click), two (Presses down on trigger), one…"

The armed people had only pulled the trigger when Daniel glowed, the hypersonic bullets made contact with an impenetrable shield, pinging off from the sudden gunfire, they stopped and noticed something, it was glowing bright blue, and it was in Daniels left hand in the ground.

Things became a blur, a large explosion followed three seconds since armour lock, the plasma grenade he smacked into the ground went off, sending the armed gunmen back, burnt or in pain to the extreme heat of plasma.

Daniel had pre planned that he might get surrounded, so the best option was a bit of shock and awe. He shut off armour lock and made short work of the remaining people. The man that had been standing in front of him was nothing but a crisp, the woman was holding the stump of her hand screaming, and the others behind him weren't as bad off, one with some minor burns and the other two partially disoriented.

He ran forwards, the two remaining gunmen fired, the rounds chewed a bit of his energy shields but not enough for him to stop. He collided into one man, tossing him into a nearby wall at crushing speeds, and the other he hit in the face with a round house kick, he hit the wall with a part of his skull inwards.

"Wow, either you knew Chuck Norris, or you got lucky." Vinaya said.

Daniel picked the man with burns to his face up. "You had five seconds, now either you tell me in the next five or this will end painfully."

The man whimpered a bit. "I don't know we were hired, by an organisation that's it."

Daniel knew the man was lying, he put his hands on the man's skull and lifted him to a nearby ledge, he held the man by his head over the ledge.

"Tell me who you're working for." He said more deeply, the pressure on the man's skull increased.

"Cerberus, the Illusive Man hired us, we thought this was easy, but you got us by surprise, the Illusive Man wanted to get his hands on you and the things you brought."

Daniel threw the man back on to the ground, he lay there whimpering.

"Stay there; C-sec will be coming."

Daniel picked up his bags and went to his room.

The Illusive Man had to be dealt with sooner or later.

XXXXX

-Centrice wards level 11: - IA.01-

Team incapacitated, recovery impossible, still pursue Y/N?

N: The target is to strong, we underestimated, we'll try again later now return it is too risky.

Acknowledged, returning to base.

END TRANSMISSION.

(Oh things are boiling.)

-Thanks you for the votes, it will be vanguard Shepard/Fem and well, Colonist and survivor, hope you like her. Don't worry; Shepard will not interfere in Daniel 312's relationship with Tali.

Now for the next part we go over to see the fast forwards to his new ship.

Option 1: Should I have Dot take over o the Normandy SR-1 or should Vinaya

Option 2: Later in the story should I bring in the Spirit of Fire?

Really need to know, because if Jorge is back, seeing he is Spartan II we can have a small reunion, and help can be readily more available.


	6. Chapter 6

And the day after today and before tomorrow is yesterday

The votes say yes to SOF and yes to DOT

We'll see Jorge soon not too soon though

We fast forwards the time of six months.

1 week before Eden Prime

Six months passed, it went faster than everything Daniel had done as a Spartan III candidate, and the training was simple, though it would have been a lot harder if he hadn't been properly trained.

Six months on Arcturus station had given him all the training necessary, he had done in his spare time to modify some of his weapons except the plasma tech; he had gone through physio and psych tests for the first few weeks, then a full intro into N7.

He topped the best of the academy and the military records, except in flight training, he met someone interesting, a pilot named Jeff or Joker as the trainers and friends called him, said he was the best pilot in the academy.

Though he did find Jokers demeanour interesting, he was impressed by his skill in piloting, that and the fact the two relied on each other, seeing as some of the guys chased him over a prank and ran into Daniel who sorted the matter out.

None bothered Joker afterwards, the two knew each other well, but Daniel had to be careful not to accidently break his bones. Jeff's condition as explained by Vinaya, as Vrolik syndrome, he had synthesised something from some medical gear he salvaged, Vinaya helped design and regulate it, the end result was a cure, similar to the Spartan II program details kindly handed to him by Vinaya, he created a less extreme means of reinforcing Jeff's bones.

At first he didn't exactly want to try it, though with only 5% risks involved it seemed too good to pass up, the procedure lasted a few hours, and things went seemingly well, though Jeff couldn't walk for a few days.

The two were good friends, though Jeff was kind of quiet at most times trying hard in his training.

The other things was Daniels special projects, he had updated some of his tech to match on par with the galaxy, his DMR and MA5C, BR55, M6 were all integrated with mass accelerator tech, and his new tech additions were the Jetpack he managed to fix up a bit, and the holograms, which now projected images permanently rather than temporary.

Vinaya tried the hologram projectors, she materialised as a multi coloured image rather than orange or blue, and tried to give Joker a bit of a scare at one time. "I'm just having some fun."

The last thing to note was the fact that Vinaya had scared the living hell out of some of the female trainees, who had decided to go on her Spartan, though one of them was actually with Cerberus, which he had a little talk to.

As he discovered her name was actually Miranda Lawson, a Cerberus operative who had infiltrated to get closer to him.

"You know Cerberus is trying to protect humanities interest and existence in the galaxy."

"Well if you care so much about our fellow people then why try and kill me?"

"That was a mistake on one cell, they had no idea…"

"Yes they did, I had Vinaya hack the extranet server and locate any trace of communications on secure links, and she put a mole and waited for your operatives to report." Daniel said as Vinaya materialised next to him.

"You know he has you there, and besides, I recall the incidents involving Cerberus in the alliance database, they don't look to good on your part." The AI said smiling at her.

"You don't need to be our enemy Daniel, but if you're staying that's up to you but be careful the Illusive Man will eventually catch up."

That was the last time he had seen the operative that day, but not Cerberus…

The time flew by and he graduated alongside Joker who had been smiling all that day. The two of them were to be assigned to the Normandy SR-1, from what Anderson told them, they were both to leave soon for the first unveiling.

The Normandy is something that Daniel knew about a long time before it was released, Vinaya had been asked to run the designs through and advance it any way she saw, the alliance military were wary at first but then again, she was technically the station itself, and she was a UNSC AI.

She made sure the ship did not compromise its stealth capabilities, and the turians involved didn't say a word about it in fear of their lives, the cloaking tech Daniel brought was the edge the Normandy needed, seeing no one had developed actual cloaking.

There was also the hologram projectors installed across the ship and the new fusion drive based off of the MJOLNIR MKV, which had a life expectancy of 1500 years, the ship employed a lot of UNSC tech, though Vinaya made sure that no one knew anything either than functions and what components for repairs.

It had three decks and one MAC, though the size was smaller it could fire much larger shells at higher speeds, this was never told to anyone about specs, the first deck was the CIC and tactical, second deck was where med bay, mess and quarters and stealth systems were, Vinaya had made sure the computer room was only a small room with a single quantum core (A lot better than the alliance).

And the final deck was the largest for its holding capacity for the vehicles and HEVs and the cryo room, engineering and storage, the HEVs were four drop pods and weapons pods capable of re-entry while the vehicles with the armoury were in the hangar, the Mako which was also modified by Vinaya had an extra personnel room and extra thrust capabilities.

The engines were UNSC modified so it had a much faster rate of flight, the FTL though had to be changed, Vinaya had never thought of using element zero because of the fusion core, this and the fact they never developed slip-space drives.

She did have something to compensate for this though, utilising the fusion drive she adapted some form of subspace field so they could get to FTL, the process took three months to calculate and design but it worked. They could escape at 1.5X the speed of light but nowhere near as fast as slip-space.

The ship was also painted black with some areas red and dark grey, so it didn't compromise it's stealthy appearance, it was at least 175m with a width of 90m including the engines. The ship was re-engineered with a number of things for a UNSC prowler and costed a lot less in element zero but in advanced material, but the ship was slightly cheaper than they expected.

(A lot of things to come, will answer later)

XXXXX

Arriving on the Normandy Daniel was greeted by Anderson.

"Heard you've done more than anyone expected, the Normandy is looking better than what we first thought." Anderson said as they walked into the grey and white CIC.

Dot materialised catching some of the crewmen by surprise. "Noble Six does aim to please."

Joker said. "Who let the overlord in?"

"I am Auntie Dot the Normandy's new AI support, welcome." She said to the now confused personnel, except Daniel.

Anderson gathered the crew to explain. "We know the citadels policy towards AI but Daniel here was granted the use of them to help the ship and we have the AI Daniel has to thank for the construction of the Normandy."

The crew were mixed but understanding.

"We will depart at 0500 tomorrow morning, but first we have to run the tests before the launch, dismissed."

The crew dispersed to their posts, about fifty crewmen went about, and their introduction was by Dot pointing out every person's position.

Anderson welcomed Daniel properly. "Well that went better than I hoped, welcome back Daniel."

"Sir thank you, it's good to see you to."

"Well we do need to pick one last person up, she will be waiting at the other dock, and I hope you'll get acquainted well with the crew." Anderson finished and headed to his ready room.

Daniel was now alone, watching the crew go by.

"Lieutenant Daniel, how are you?" Dot said as she materialised.

"Fine Dot, how was the talks with the council?"

"Interesting to say the least, they have accepted me as non-hostile after three weeks but insisted on my regular overwatch, the councillors Tevos and Valern have acknowledged my existence as acceptable and permitted me with access to updating known technologies. Though councillor Altri opposed the idea he decided to keep his peace and allowed me to continue my work, the citadel has now a similar VI designed much like myself, the updates in minor computer technology and holographic, are not too much of a hassle."

"So how did you end up on the Normandy?"

"The Normandy was also something I had placed my investigation into and an opportunity arisen from alliance command, though the citadel personnel would miss my skill in the station they understood by departure."

"So what do you do on the Normandy?"

"I the task of activating the cybernetic defence programs and regulate the roosters and tasks, I am simply here to organise and maintain the ships functions."

"Okay well I better head off." Daniel said as he left.

Vinaya said in his helmet. "She hasn't changed much has she; I mean well we still each other."

"Vinaya be quiet, if there is something to report then report but if not then don't say anything."

"Humph." She pouted.

Moving to the front he saw Joker and another officer.

"So Joker, how are you doing?"

He turned around with a smile on his face.

"This ship is amazing LT, I mean the advanced specs on this thing, I never seen anything like it, but then again no one has yet, the change might be getting used to though, but it is great."

Dot appeared again. "Mr Moreau the ship is by far up to all standards, and yes the functions here are more advanced, with some extra comfort."

Joker droned. "And that is the problem; she's like something I don't want to talk about."

The officer behind Joker made his voice.

"Well I don't have a problem with Dot, she seems nice."

Joker turned to face him and say. "Well that' just you, I grew up watching sci-fi films, and they don't paint pretty images of everyone dancing in pretty meadows of flowers."

Daniel asked. "Who are you?"

The officer replied. "I am Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko, sorry to interrupt, sir."

"No worries, besides your right, Dot's always been nice, and she has helped me a lot before."

"And I would never harm my crew." She said.

"Yeah wait until she starts signing daisy bell, then I'm on the first life pod out."

Daniel decided to go about a bit more. "Well I am heading off."

"See you Daniel."

"That's sir." Daniel said as he left.

Now heading down around the ship Daniel went about looking at the new med bay where he met Dr Chakwas.

Then he went to see the mess, there was one chef Thompson Hedridge, very good chef by his standards, seeing Daniel only ate MREs.

The quarters were set out, with 4 different rooms of 6; there was a crew compliment of 30.

And then the lift that was re-engineered by Vinaya to run on mag lines rather than a pulley, it went much faster than the Citadel lifts.

(I really hate those things…)

The engineering deck or hangar and engineering was the largest, the hangar was packed, the Mako MK I was already, the newly added turret and boosters with the new matte black armour made it seem more like a tank.

The engineering was also good minus the fact that the engineers had a new task of trying to understand the flow of energy from the fusion drive, Dot had to take over explaining that it wasn't that different from a normal vessel, but there was need of fine tuning.

Chief engineer Adams was probably more baffled about how the ship could be faster than any other yet being also capable of stealth.

The walk past the cryo pods and access into storage was uneventful, everything was set and most of the gear lay out.

Daniel went back up to the crew deck; there he went to the computer room and stealth systems in the rear room past Chakwas in med bay.

(The ship is like ME2.)

There he watched as the single computer terminal where Dot was stored glow, the room also had the two generators on either side that regulated power for the stealth systems.

Though that was probably not even necessary seeing the ship had, ablative coating and armour and a special over lay of protection that masked the ships energy signature and the ship did not even produce a mass effect field so there was little chance anyone was going to find it.

With all things done he headed back to CIC to await the arrival of their new XO a woman named Shepard.

On his way up he noticed the Chief Navigator talking to Dot.

"Well I don't know how I'm supposed to do my job if the navigations have been changed completely from the ground up."

"Please Navigator Pressly understand that the ship has a different method of navigations, the display will show that."

"What display I can't find anything that looks like a galaxy map let alone a star chart."

"There is a green and red button on the console marked NAV right next to your hand."

He looked down to see she was right.

"Oh, well my apologies ma'am."

"Quite alright, a mistake can be made especially with the ships format." She said before disappearing.

Daniel made his approach.

"I assume everything is okay?"

Pressly turned to face the armoured Spartan looking at him.

"Yes its fine just the sudden change from our usual kind of ship."

"Okay then, anything I should know?"

"Nothing much just that the ship is functioning from what I can tell, these displays are quite a feat, integrated circuitry with a light base form of touch the ship is well beyond capable seeing as we can stay hidden more longer than the original design."

"That's the use of cloaking, and ablative coated armour, and the fact the ship has no drive core but instead a fusion drive that no one has ever seen or heard about."

The navigator was surprised, he had only known a bit about the ship but Daniel knew far more.

"Well I have to go meet our new XO, sir."

Daniel headed off.

Joker was at the helm piloting in the Normandy for their pick up.

"So she's all yours Daniel."

"Real funny, by the way your ego is showing."

"Huh?"

Daniel was already at the airlock waiting to greet their new XO.

With a cool hiss the door opened and revealed turian in red and black armour with a female human standing next to him.

"Well I guess I should introduce myself, Nihlus Kryik Council Spectre."

The female officer behind him said.

"Commander Jane Shepard, permission to come aboard?"

"Granted, I am Special operations Lieutenant Daniel 312, welcome aboard."

They stepped onto the ship; Anderson was just walking up to greet them.

"Oh, I guess Nihlus introduced himself?"

"Yes sir, and our commander."

"Good, we have things to get done, Dot plot in a course for the Exodus cluster we have a shakedown run to get done."

Dot suddenly materialised. "Acknowledged captain plotting course, Jeff would be kind as to get us going?"

"Hey, fine." He said.

(Continue on to next chapter)

Tomorrow I'll try and update please wait.

Be patient and there is no voting today we have that chance tomorrow, and I'll add some specials.


	7. Chapter 7

Continuing on from 6

Is Sunday

Voting options at the bottom

The appearance of Dot surprised the commander and the spectre, the fact alone there was an AI and that it was in control of the ship. Dot then turned to greet them.

"Welcome aboard Commander Shepard and Spectre Nihlus Kryik to the Normandy SR-1, I am Auntie Dot the AI for the Normandy, would you like me to give you the tour of the ship?"

Anderson interrupted. "Dot, just give them the tour and settle them in."

"Acknowledged, please follow me." Dot said as she gestured to them.

The commander asked Anderson. "Sir, I should ask you, shouldn't I be reporting…"

"Later, the time isn't right about now, you should probably get acquainted with the crew first and then we should talk, we have a quick run about before we head to the Charon relay."

"Right sir, we'll talk later." She said as she moved off.

Nihlus followed closely behind.

The two watched as Dot showed them the CIC and the different areas of the ship, and answered some rather confused questions.

Daniel was already heading down to the crew quarters to get his gear ready for the next mission.

Vinaya had prepared a special room for him though, the room was next to the captains, inside was a larger space than he had needed, seeing it could sit a whole warthog inside and have space to dance, and the room had a bed and a table.

There was also all of Daniels weapons and gear he had modified at the academy and some of his projects, he was saving for later. Unpacking the room quickly filled up with tools and mechanisms, he had also removed his armour and set it upon a stand, and he was only wearing a gel like layer of clothing on his torso that spread to his wrists and down to his feet, though the layers were thicker below his waist and the colour was matte black.

The gel was one of Vinaya's ideas involving him showing his great physical build, which led to some female officers trying to get to him, whom Vinaya discouraged quickly.

He was stretching himself a bit, the new adaptation of the MKV was that it now looked more like a body build across the chest and had slightly bulkier bits on his shoulders and knee caps.

He had never really liked looking like a walking tank more of being stealthy and silent, but then again he was talkative.

Moving about he exited the room in his gel suit, which form most looks of the crew seemed interesting, he was sure Vinaya was watching him through the security cams inside the ship.

He walked past the mess and to the CIC to see the relay jump, he also noted as he approached that Shepard and Nihlus had both finished their tour.

Stepping past them he asked Joker. "Joker what's our eta on the relay?"

"Any moment now, we have front view seats; let's see what this baby can do."

They approached the relay, the glowing core starched out in front and they entered the grasp of the relay, and then went ahead running along it, the sudden push and they were slung at speeds beyond FTL.

"Fusion sync check, systems green across the board or orange, drift is just under fifty hundred."

"Impressive, the ship is worth its weight, I should report to the captain." Nihlus said as he exited the cockpit.

"I hate that guy." Joker said.

"What why?" Shepard asked.

"Remembering how to ride a bicycle that's impressive, I just shot us across the galaxy to a target the size of a dime. Besides spectres are bad news, call me paranoid."

Kaiden said. "You're paranoid, the council funded part of this project along with the turian hierarchy, and they have a right to send someone to look out for their assets."

"That's the official story but no one believes in the official story besides, I know how the ship was developed."

Kaiden asked. "Okay then how?"

"Well the ship was actually made by Daniels AI which is human and funding came from Daniels AI which was on the citadel which he and I know of because she had given some interesting tech for free and because of which allowed for something to go trickling down to development."

"And you should not be telling anyone about this." Daniel said standing behind the two.

Kaiden and Joker paused before continuing.

"Besides you don't send spectres on shakedown runs."

The intercom beeped. "Joker what's our eta?"

"Just went through the relay arrival in another half an hour sir."

"Good, are the commander and Daniel there?"

"Were here." The two said in unison.

"Get to the conference room for briefing."

"Aye, Sir."

Joker asked as the com went off. "Does the captain sound pissed off?"

"That's only when he's talking to you Joker." Kaiden said.

"Maybe something's up." Daniel said.

"Well we better get going." Shepard put in.

The two walked down, they didn't seem to talk, and it was more like a wall between Daniel and Jane.

She looked at him but he never paid any attention to her, she could only see his normal calm complexion over his well-made body, lines of muscles and warm… 'No, that is not the way to get along with fellow crewmen." Jane said in her head.

She just couldn't help looking at him, that and every other female crewman aboard the ship.

Walking into the conference room they saw Nihlus pacing about looking at an image, Daniel knew that it was Eden Prime, the world some fellow students had lived on; they all seemed to talk about how nice it is.

"Well looks like you're here." Nihlus said as he watched them.

"It's nice to see you to." Daniel said.

"Well considering the fact that the council permitted your AI and the advancement of tech aboard the ship." Nihlus said back.

"We should probably get to business first before we try anything else." Jane interjected.

"Right, well then, I suppose that you haven't been to Eden Prime have you?" Nihlus asked.

"No never, but from what I hear it's prosperous and one of the few most well accomplished." She said.

"But is it safe?" He asked.

Daniel was getting sure that something was more than just a milk run now, there was an odd feeling something was going to happen, and like all Spartans he was paranoid, but very accurate with his guesses.

"Nihlus I think it's time we told the two of them what is really going on."

The conversation about the discovery of the Prothean beacon and such really did not interest Daniel who only listened in but let Vinaya decipher what they needed to do. (Really annoying part)

This was disrupted by Joker with an emergency transmission.

Watching the scene unfold the image of a large ship looking more like something he had seen during his early life, like a squid.

"Sir we should get to the surface ASAP, the soldiers down there won't last long." Daniel said.

"Agreed, Joker, activate the cloaking and get us to the surface fast."

"Aye sir, we'll be in orbit in 10 minutes."

"Daniel. Shepard, come and see me in the hangar when you two are ready."

They moved off to get ready.

Suiting up, Daniel decided to bring out some of the new gear, loading up his DMR-MA and his BR55 along with his M9-MA modified handgun and one last thing. SR-Revenant-MA-99 particle rifle, using the focus long rifle he redesigned the Covenant tech and adapted a sniper rifle into it to produce a weapon superior to most other snipers.

Loading all of his weapons and packing spare clips, he put Vinaya back in his head.

"So miss me, nice, seeing as the commander has her eyes on you, and she better stay away or things might get bad."

"Vinaya what have I said." Daniel said in a dull and meaningful tone.

"Humph."

He knew she had always been like this, and will continue to be like this.

Moving into the hangar he found the commander, Nihlus and two other marines were checking their gear and noticed the black armoured soldier.

"Sir, is that you?" Asked corporal Jenkins as Daniel went over his dossier.

"Yeah it's me in the flesh." He said with humour.

"So how are we going to do this?" Shepard asked.

"Simple, ever go feet first?" He said pointing to the HEV pods.

"Wait I thought those were for escaping out of ships." Nihlus said.

"No there planetary insertion pods, these are prototypes installed with shields and grav-plating sot that it can make covert drops, they are the fastest means of getting to the surface undetected."

"Which is why we aren't landing, we have the stealth systems up, but landing might bring them down so were going to have to be careful on this one and take the HEV." Anderson said as he walked down.

"Joker how far is drop point alpha?"

"Another five thousand meters but the insertion pods can be launched now."

"Right the mission is all yours commander and good luck to you Daniel." Anderson said as the team prepared for the ride.

"So anyone want to become a meteorite?" Nihlus asked.

They squashed themselves or Nihlus did, and Daniel had his personal one modified for his own comfort.

Kaiden and Shepard had to adjust their armour accordingly with new tech that Daniel provided, it was looking more like N7 mixed with an ODST, though the helmet was quite comfortable and the armour itself was like a hard suit but had more places covered and much harder armour, as well as shields.

Though they only had two suits and Jenkins was left with only modified armour plating, though it was probably better than his normal armour.

"So, how long does this take?" Shepard asked.

"About five minutes give or take a few seconds to launch."

The sudden jolt of the release and the pods flew away to the surface; the pressure began to build inside, and was quickly dispersed as the pods went flying through the atmosphere at sonic speeds.

When landing Shepard felt the ground around her practically explode, though a nice chime from the door and the auto release said she landed. Popping out of the pod she saw where the others had landed, Nihlus conveniently landed not too far from her, Daniel told them he was heading further out, and Kaiden was sitting by a tree kind of disorientated. Jenkins was swimming out of a lake he knew, it was not too far from his old home.

Regrouping the team made their way over to Nihlus who was yet to recover from his interesting experience.

"Nilhus are you coming along?" Kaiden asked.

"No, I'll scout ahead and see if I can catch up with Daniel at the star port, besides I move faster on my own." He said as he moved off.

The team watched, and Shepard decided to get them going.

Daniel was over on the far end of where Shepard was he had crashed through the trees and not too far from the dig site.

Getting up he checked his gear.

"You flew pretty well for a brick." Was all Vinaya could say.

"Just be thankful we're still alive."

He walked carefully, pulling his rifle out he scouted the area, a bipedal machine with a flash light head was putting a man on to a strange device, and it suddenly impaled him through the torso.

He felt pity on those who had died; these machines were doing nothing better than the covenant.

"Daniel I've completed my search into those machines, they're called the Geth, they haven't been seen outside the Perseus Veil in nearly three hundred years, wonder why they're here now?"

He moved closer and drew his M9-MA, the zoom increased at 25M and locked a solid round in, and Daniel fired. The mass accelerator accelerated the 9mm tungsten slug of 50g at ¼ the speed of light, the head of the machine suddenly exploded as the round practically blew through the kinetic barriers.

A mini heat sink popped out where shells would, this was a specially designed to reduce heat instantly and keep the gun constantly effective during use.

Daniel moved around and continued.

Shepard was getting closer but she and the team were well behind, they were now at a cliff overlook with rocks along the path.

Pausing, she sent Jenkins ahead, he moved about the rocks until he came into the open.

Before he could react, four flying turret drones appeared, quicker than he could react, he was showered by the pulse weapons, he did manage to get out of part way, but he was still hit more than enough times.

Shepard and Kaiden quickly removed the four drones with their assault rifles before checking him.

"Damn, I can't breathe, my chest feels like a ton, or less." Jenkins joked, the rounds had torn apart the armour and punctured his lung, but thanks to the armour Jenkins was still alive.

"Don't worry helps on the way." Jane said as she pulled out something called 'Bio gel' from the back of the ODST/N7 armour.

Putting it on the wound she hit the trigger release for the gel, quickly setting in, the wound sealed up, but he needed medical attention.

"Normandy we have wounded, can you pick him up?"

"Affirmative, we'll send a shuttle down in a few minutes."

"Right, we need to get moving, you okay?"

"Sure thing commander, I'll just lie here." He said jokingly.

The two marines continued on, and left the fellow soldier to wait for rescue.

Daniel was now at a camp not far from the space port, he had seen more than any other marine or human alive, but this was something new.

A zombie as Vinaya said, swung at his face, but he reacted faster by punching it, which actually shattered the body to bits, he pulled out his DMR-MA and started to gun the husks down.

The more advanced DMR, launched shells of 9.5mm length rounds of titanium at much faster velocities, one round had enough force to put a hole in a tank, depending if it had shields, the rounds on infantry though was the most effective.

Two successive shots in one husk left only a blue stain while another lost its head to one.

After thirty seconds there was nothing left, he moved to some of the pre-fab houses and let Vinaya hack the doors.

He found some scientists from the dig site.

"Are you human?" One female scientist asked.

"Yes, don't worry, I came here to help."

"Thank goodness we thought those machines found us." Said another scientist

"Who are you?" Daniel asked.

"I am Dr Warren and there is another five of us."

"Can you not see the end; the harbingers of death are upon us." An AWOL scientist said.

"Hush Manuel, sorry he hasn't been too well since the attack." Warren explained.

"No problem, just keep an eye out, I'll close the door and notify my ship, just stay here."

"Will do, and good luck." The Dr said as he left.

"Nice a crazy and logical man, how does that work?" Vinaya said.

Daniel made his way up a hill overlooking the space port he noticed a turian, surrounded by geth, bu the geth didn't attack him, and he was pointing out orders.

Daniel quickly hid himself at a ridge and got a closer look.

"Vinaya run a match on the turian see who that is."

A few moments later a similar image matching the turian with blue eyes appeared.

"Saren Arterius a council spectre, how strange aiding machines to attack a colony."

"That turian is probably trying to aid in someone else's plans; I suggest we start asking questions."

Daniel didn't wait long to see Nihlus appear and move down to the port where Saren was, the geth had already cleared off and the scene looked perfect for a betrayal.

But Daniel had pulled out the Revenant SR-99, zooming in he quickly calculated a shot between Saren and Nihlus, but Nihlus was getting in part way of the shot.

It wasn't until Saren pulled his pistol out to put it behind Nihlus' head, firing he aimed for only one place he knew Saren wouldn't like.

Saren was sure to have his day, though killing Nihlus did seem to be a part he didn't like, it was necessary, he put the gun as he said. "It's all…"

He never could pull the trigger, the handgun exploded, and part of his hand went missing with it, he screamed in frustration rather than pain, someone interfered. Looking about as Nihlus was surprised, Daniel came into view.

Saren yelled out as he ran.

"Take him and the human."

Geth suddenly swarmed the platform and husks.

Nihlus was outgunned; he was hit by a few rounds by the time he got into cover.

But Daniel made up for this as he began rapidly blowing apart the numbers.

When he got down checking on Nihlus he realised, Nihlus was in critical, multiple rounds lower spinal region.

"Normandy we have a critical, Nihlus is down."

The reason for Daniel not shooting Saren in the head, was because of the kinetic barriers, and because he had to hit twice.

Option 1: when we get to the citadel.

Do you want me for Daniel 312 to go solo on the look for Tali or with Shepard?

It really affects their relationship so decide carefully.

There is also another thing.

Do you want me to go through the 2years of death thing with Daniel and Tali?


	8. Chapter 8

And back again

Shepard had been having the most hectic day of her life, there was the attack on Eden Prime, the new ship and the Geth and now Nihlus was nearly dead.

She either was having the worst day of her life or someone really hated her, but the bright side was that she saved a marine named Ashley Williams from being KIA and Jenkins was still alive.

So not everything was that bad, now at the station where Daniel had been she noticed one train had already left with him on board, while she was left to clean up the mess.

"So either I'm guessing a tank went through here or your super soldier did?" Williams said as she looked around at the amount of corpses and machine parts.

"That's Daniel for you." Kaiden said.

"Yeah that's good old Daniel." Shepard said, checking some bodies.

"Well from what I can tell we can reach the space port as soon as the shuttle gets here for Nihlus."

No sooner than she finished a shuttle of white and black appeared overhead, the Normandy ahd just one shuttle installed, but it was enough for recovery of personnel and FTL flight to specific destinations.

Two alliance marines came and picked Nihlus on to a stretcher, inside they could also see Jenkins lying down on a med bed linked with IV and monitors.

The shuttle left but had restocked the team before doing so.

"Okay let's get to work." Shepard said as she got on to the train.

Just ahead of the team, Daniel was at the station following closely behind Saren, or exactly behind, the train was catching up with Saren's and they were nearly side by side.

High speed chases were never something Daniel ever wanted to do, but this was worth it. Linking side by side he could see Saren practically panic when he saw Daniel aligning to the third train carriage behind him.

The geth responded by firing their pulse weapons, Daniel duck firing back, this continued until a juggernaut suddenly fired a rocket and hit a circuit lining the train's power, the train started to slow, but just stayed behind until they reached the station.

Saren rushed off and ordered. "Kill him or stall him, we cannot allow him to live."

The geth rushed to greet the Spartan.

Daniel saw his welcoming committee, three dozen heavily armed geth shock troopers and more juggernauts than he had fingers, you had to feel bad for the geth.

He leapt of the train firing on the first few geth on the platform as he ran up the stairs; they didn't last long against high powered slugs of tungsten. Taking cover by some crates Daniel prepared to slug this out.

Another four geth armed with rockets on the other side from where he was opened fire.

Now they were trying to pin him, though he had a few surprises, loading up one concussion round with a static mod, he waited for a chance.

Three more rockets hit the cover, he fired the improvised EM launcher, the round hit at home, the four went down and one exploded. He pulled out his BR55 and began to pick the others one by one.

Saren was now forced to rush his plans for the beacon; he wasted those puppets to rust so that he could get the message before the humans arrived.

There was little time, the beacon glowed and he levitated…

Now reaching the station Shepard realised she was late again only to find Daniel had not only destroyed everything but secured the beacon.

Walking down she found him sitting by or on top of a prime.

"So what took you?" He said as she walked over.

"Nothing much just the corpses and injured team mates, you left for me." She said.

"Sorry, I had priorities, a traitor spectre escaped, Saren as I believe."

"A rouge spectre, that's not good for the council." Kaiden said.

"Well it's not good for us either seeing he was pretty determined to kill us." Daniel replied.

"Well we can't do anything else, I better call the Normandy." Daniel said, Shepard followed behind, and Kaiden and Williams went to get a better look.

Suddenly a greater amount of light began to focus around Ashley as she was pulled closer, Shepard saw this and bolted to her rescue, pulling her away, Shepard was placed in the grasp of the beacon.

She was levitated and experienced the view of what had been the fate of others.

The beacon exploded with enough force to knock the team back except for Daniel who caught the commander as she fell.

"Normandy we have…" The world blurred out for Shepard.

XXXXX

15hrs later…

Daniel had visited the Dr and checked up on Jenkins and Nihlus, both were set to live, with Jenkins heading back to alliance space in a wheel chair, a round went through his spinal column and Nihlus set to recover on the Citadel.

Daniel had a talk with Anderson about what had occurred, including the evidence laid out about Saren.

Anderson was now pacing about on what to do.

Daniel was greeting the newest member of the crew, Ashley Williams, who had an interesting demeanour about Daniel himself, seeing him in his body suit; she liked the view until of course Vinaya decided to lock her in the changing room for three hours.

Now being introduced to Dot, whom Williams at first was unsure about the AI, she accepted the decision of her being around but asked why the room closed on her.

"Unsure, unit-2 Vinaya might be jealous of you attempting to gain access to Daniel 312."

"So she wants war, I'll give her war." Williams said as she began to plan.

Things were not looking good.

Daniel was in the tech room, constructing some new gear for Ash who had been allowed to join. The ODST variant suit was still a WIP but he had something's more to add, the new Hazard OPS, though it might be a bit longer to develop.

The UNSC gear was slowly getting integrated into the alliance military, though there were still a number of things before it is allowed. And MAC weapons weren't going to get integrated anytime soon, only the Normandy had this feature, and the other things, but advanced armour was acceptable, and the production of more advanced VI programs such as Dotter MKI, capable of more complex calculations and proper responses.

The citadel let Dot integrated part of a new program to help with tours and sections of repairs and such, though she kept quiet.

Most of the weapons and gear on the Normandy were developed by Daniel himself and most would never leave the ship, he'd never allow it.

Now patching up his jetpack and speed boost he tested the effects on a simulator of alliance personnel, the effects were promising and chances were they'd be accepted soon.

Though most of the most advanced gear was in his quarters, and no one has ever tried to get in yet.

XXXXX

Shepard and Anderson were talking when Daniel entered; he had just heard her get back up.

"So what did I miss?" He said walking over to them.

"Not much just a vision and a long as problem." She replied.

"So what do we do now sir?" Daniel asked the captain.

"We wait for the council's decision and your report Daniel; you'll accompany the commander to the presidium and meet with ambassador Udina."

"Okay, well better get ready." He said turning around.

XXXXX

Getting into the cockpit he noticed Joker and Kaiden bringing the ship through the relay.

Daniel also saw Ash and Shepard looking out the window.

The large space station came into view, though large may have been an understatement, it was the largest thing in space he had seen.

"Look the Destiny Ascension."

"It's the flagship of the citadel fleet, and the largest here."

"Its main gun can rip through the barriers of any known ship."

"I've seen better and trust me the Normandy has something that even the Ascension doesn't have." Daniel said blankly.

They looked to him.

"A UNSC frigate has more fire power than a single cruiser and a marathon class cruiser can easily outgun the Ascension with its MAC, top the fact off with the Normandy having speed and firepower as I installed the MAC here, it can fire a fifty kilogram slug at forty percent the speed of light, and it can also fire much larger rounds but it might over heat."

The crew was surprised, the Normandy was more powerful than even a citadel dreadnaught, and this was just a single frigate.

Preceding to the alliance dock 3152 the Normandy gracefully slid into the dock, magnetic clamps attaching to the Normandy's hull, and they were ready.

The walk to the elevator and then to the embassies was probably the longest thing Daniel had ever had to do, the elevator was not like the linear lift on the Normandy and took more time than the entire walk.

Arriving at the embassy, they were not too surprised to find Udina arguing with the council.

"Captain Anderson is see you brought…" Udina paused to see the 7ft super soldier staring at him.

"…the demolition crew." Udina said.

"Really and is that how you treat someone who helped in your position?" Daniel said.

"I'd rather not talk about what had happened." Udina said.

"Well our findings on the mission…"

"I know Captain the destruction of the beacon and the near death of Nihlus who is now in critical care."

"The beacon was destroyed by accident and Nihlus was murdered by Saren."

"We don't have the evidence to prove he had anything to do with what happened."

"But I do." Daniel said.

"A tactical view of you having a sniper shot at Saren doesn't help soldier."

"There is no solid evidence to pin Saren with."

"So what should we do?"

"We wait until the council is ready for the hearing and then we can decide to go on after."

"Alright we'll meet you at the tower." Shepard said.

Udina and Anderson walked off, leaving a very frustrated Daniel and ground team.

"So he gets away with it?"

"Hopefully not, but the council won't take action, Saren is one of their best."

"Well we better see if we can't disprove that." Daniel said.

The team exited the human embassy and went about looking at the interesting things, they did notice something new, and a holo-VI of Dot was now at the terminal for the tour.

They noticed the VI was blue rather than pink.

"Ooh the one gets all the attention." Vinaya said.

"Don't be jealous." Daniel replied.

She simply huffed, Daniel was about to laugh if it hadn't been for the fact that Shepard and the others noticed the conversation inside his helmet, the internal speakers were off.

"Who was that?" Shepard asked.

"Vinaya my other AI, she has a problem with women who get to close to me."

"That's an understatement." Williams said.

"Oh come off it, besides you shouldn't go for someone else companion." Vinaya said.

"Companion, you're more to fact you enslave the poor guy." She retorted.

The two huffed this off, while Daniel was sure for an all-out war for him. (Including Tali)

They made their way about the station until they reached the tower and the keeper; he had a strange feeling about the keepers, they were too ignored and no one has ever gotten close to understanding them.

Heading up they reached the council chambers, where they found two turians arguing.

When they finished one turned his attention to them.

"Commander Shepard, Garrus Vakarian Citadel security, I was on the investigation into Saren."

"Find anything?" Shepard asked.

"No I can't get anywhere near him because of his spectre status, it makes them nearly untouchable, all I know is that everything he touches is classified. I have to get going, good luck, maybe they'll listen to you."

The team headed up where Anderson was waiting for them.

"Hurry the council has already begun the hearing."

They found Udina presenting their case.

"The Geth attack is a matter of some concern." Councillor Tevos said.

Daniel watched as the debacle unfolded, Saren stood in holographic form watching the situation.

'He wasn't so smug when I shot at him.' Daniel thought.

The council got to the point about the investigation.

"Citadel security has investigated your charges of treason, but there has been no evidence to support your claim." Altri said.

"Special operation lieutenant Daniel here took the image of Saren attempting to murder Nihlus, here he is."

Daniel didn't say much but move forwards, to display the tactical image of his sniper view. Though it was zoomed very close only to his… 'Hands, wait the sniper doesn't take images when looking only shooting, must have forgot.' The hand of Saren pointing his pistol at the near back of Nihlus was a bit of a shock.

Saren bumbled nearly at the fact that Daniel was the one to take the shot.

"I resent these accusations, the image of me holding a weapon to Nihlus is not enough to say…"

Anderson intervened. "That's because you were his friend which let you catch him off guard."

"Captain Anderson, you have a way of accusing me on false charges."

"But this is enough to say that Saren was involved." Shepard added.

"I was there only by coincidence, the report from Nihlus was given to me when was injured."

"Well then what about the fact that he didn't even give you the report when he was shooting back."

Another image appeared, Nihlus firing on the geth as they swarmed him, and the tactical view of Daniel snipping the hostiles approaching Nihlus.

"Well how do you explain that?"

"I will not be simply hounded by you, on these charges; there is no solid evidence of me leading the attack or any full evidence of my direct intervention." Saren was furious Daniel had not only had evidence but a full view of him being shot at.

The councillors were confused as how to act.

"A further investigation is seemingly needed and spectre Nihlus' report, till we can determine the best course of action the hearing is postponed." The three councillors were suddenly talking amongst themselves over what had happened.

Saren vanished, he was sure to get away.

"Good work, Saren is now having his hands tied with those images and Nihlus' recovery but it won't be easy to bring him down." Udina said.

"Saren is still a threat; we have to find a means of getting him in ASAP."

"It was a mistake to bring you along Anderson, at first they thought it was a grudge you still hold, if it wasn't for Daniel and his view we would be at square one."

"So any clues to how we proceed?" Shepard asked.

"We need a full set of evidence, Barla' Von should be able to help, he works for the Shadow Broker."

"Who's the Shadow Broker?" Shepard asked.

"Some kind of organisation or being or some kinds of group of people who gather information across the galaxy most governments and organisations as well as powerful people, ask for his help."

"And were going to one of his agents?"

"It won't be free but it could help bring Saren down."

"Any other people we should know…" Daniel was walking off, he already knew who to look for.

"Daniel, where are you going?" Shepard asked.

"To look for Garrus, besides you know who need to see."

(Next-CH)

To you all I rushed this part kind of, we all know how the council is, and besides I can't let you know what ruin the Tali rescue scene.


	9. RVB Special

Here it comes

RVB Special

The system of Ulic on the Skillion cluster, has one of the most prominent and most quiet worlds, here no one could here you scream…

Son of a BITCH! Red team yelled.

The damn Cerberus tank was chasing them across the whole place since they had landed.

Which was a few months back, Cerberus was the ones to find them, and Cerberus opted for a job position.

And they accepted, running for their lives now as a sentient tank which called itself Tod decided they were annoying.

Somehow the Illusive Man was as so cruel to do this, but hey, where's all the fun gone in the universe.

They ran inside the base, closing the door on Tod.

Thankfully Simmons and Grif were actually on a cliff base watching things go about.

"Hey do you ever why we're here?"

"I dunno why we are here, are there some evil killing machines that decided to twist our fate, or is there some divine power in the universe." Grif said.

"What, I meant why are we out here on this gigantic island."

"Oh."

"What was all that about divine things and what not?"

"Nothing…"

"So why are we out here?"

"I guess it's because those weird skin tight clothes wearing people needed beta testers."

"Well, I think this just a waste of resources."

"That's what I was thinking man, yeah like come on; we don't need tanks trying to kill us or those weird bird aliens shooting at us or the army of robots waiting outside."

"Well you got me because that's what we're being paid for."

Somewhere where the Illusive Man is…

"So you need my help?" Wash said as he moved around.

"Yes we would like you to recover something for us of value." IM said smoking his cigarette.

"What kind of value?"

"Something in the Terminus systems, Omega, you'll find an asari named Aria T'loak, an artefact of value recently came on the market it was within her possession before moving on, we need you to find out who is now in possession of this item."

"Fine, but you know my fee."

"It's all taken care of David."

"So who's my support?"

"A couple of agents, Miranda and Jacob come in." IM said.

The door opened to reveal a black haired woman in tight clothes, and a dark skinned man with a bit of facial hair that needed a bit of trimming. "So this is one of the freelancers?" Miranda asked.

"You have my skill at your disposal as long as I get what I need." Wash said.

"So, you're okay with this?" Jacob asked.

"A freelancer is no different than a merc why not just act like one? So when do we begin?"

"Now, your ship is waiting for you outside."

The team proceeded to the door and to their plan.

"So it begins." IM said as he watched the artificial image of a star change from orange and red to cold coloured blue.

XXXXX

Tucker had known Church and the others for a long time, but now he had a new job, it was at a cafeteria on some damn space station called Arcturus, because he was a hitch hiker, and all he had was his armour and a few other things.

He didn't mind the pay and the people seemed fairly nice, but the place was too noisy for him, more than his last one. "Bow-chicka- ow" as the friendly H&R guy next to him smacked him upside.

"Get back to work."

'Geez this place sucks.'

He missed his old job.

XXXXX

Church was hunting for Tex as per usual, and this time he was on Illium, working as an accountant, or part of job, it wasn't easy, he had moved here since first arriving and he wasn't having much luck looking for Tex.

'I miss them.'

'What the hell?' He thought.

He decided to get back to work before the asari manager had his ass.

XXXXX

Caboose who had somehow managed to end up as a research project, was being tested for physical strength, seeing he could practically lift a Krogan and throw it at someone, the salarians were eager for a test subject.

He really couldn't remember much about blue team, the salarians were planning to fix Cabooses head by installing a type of implant to help memory.

XXXXX

Tex was probably the furthest out of the group, she was in the Shadow Sea on Horizon, a small colony, and she was busy working as a farmer, or trader. She really did not like the job at first but it grew on her, here there was no war and here she was at least better off.

(And there was a reason for her name.)

XXXXX

Doc was now working at a medical research centre on Terra Nova, or trying to get a job there, he was working as a GP. This did fit his job description and skill, though he missed the single patient' type of job, he had to gotten used to working with families.

An asari named Batha was working at the medical centre, he had never gotten to see her again, and the damn Krogan that was her body guard nearly crushed him. Well that's life.

XXXXX

Sister was working on the citadel; she was a bartender in a place called Midnight Blue, a rather simple place, and the asari dancers keep getting her tips. This was kind of a bummer, considering she really needed the extra cash.

XXXXX

Somewhat strange, Donut was the only member outside of red team who had a job elsewhere; he was on a ship called the Idenna, after being picked up off of a world, he had been fortunate seeing he was on an island, and a very rich source of mineral island.

He bartered for a simple trade he can help if they took him along, and the friendly aliens kind of agreed, though they thought he was strange.

He now works as a navigator looking at the rainbow of different planets and he helps mine them.

(Do not even ask)

XXXXX

Back to the reds on Ulic, the red team was gathering for a mission.

"Sir, are you sure that's a good idea?" Simmons asked.

"Well it's not the best but it would probably work."

"You mean if we live?"

"That is why you distract the tank long enough for Simmons and me to get to the Ship, while you drive about."

"Sir, I hate you."

XXXXX

(That's all folks, for now)


	10. Chapter 9

Hello

BIG NEWS AT THE BOTTOM!

NOW

This has now been rewritten for story and comical sense.

The wards were the only place that most species mingled and converged on the citadel, though it was just as busy as any multi species city, the place to Daniel was a breeding ground for trouble.

He had arrived to meet Harkin the low brow officer, Chora's Den was around the corner where a sign was; he moved along to see some strange turians. They were armed and they were looking at him.

It didn't take a genius to know that it was a hit squad; he pulled himself behind a wall as they opened fire, three targets. He quickly turned about, unloading his M9 into the nearest turian, the rounds slammed into the barriers and dropped it in two shots and the third went through his skull.

The others were not quick as Daniel changed to his DMR and ran along the wall cover to the right, the remainder fired continuously, though he timed the shots they needed to pause.

Three seconds later and he pulled around once more and charged, firing as he approached he killed the two with 4 rounds, he didn't search the bodies, and he knew it was unlikely to have any ID.

Moving inside, he made his way to the human in uniform at the back, he didn't pay attention to the dancers or the alcohol that were widely available, and he needed the only thing.

But an interesting scene played out, two Krogan were facing off, though one left, he overheard the name Wrex and Fist.

Harkin was sitting down drunk partially; Daniel didn't even need an invitation.

"An alliance marine, huh, you must be the spec ops super soldier I hear so much about, you know I could have joined the corps but I choose damn citadel security."

"I'm looking for Garrus Vakarian, you know where he is?"

"Garrus is at the med clinic on the other side, looking for evidence, even when the case was closed, what an idiot." He said slightly light headed.

"I'll leave you to your drinks." Daniel said as he left.

There was more than enough time to catch up.

XXXXX

Shepard finished her talk with Barla' von, he had told her about the interesting things that happened with Fist and the Shadow Broker, Daniel came over the com reporting he was catching up with two beings that might be of help, he also mentioned a Krogan bounty hunter named Wrex, which she ran by him as the same person who could help.

She was now on her way to Chora's Den to rally with Daniel.

XXXXX

Daniel arrived at the med clinic as fast as he could, he noticed the scene where some thugs were threatening the doctor, he pulled his pistol out and watched as Garrus appeared and shot the thug who was holding the doctor.

The brief fire fight was the briefest on record; he had only fired twice, the one round for one who was behind a wall, and the tank of coolant behind the thugs which quickly poisoned and suffocated them.

Dr Michel was alright from what he could see.

"Good timing Daniel, you gave me the time I needed to get a clear shot." Garrus said.

"Yes but nearly getting the doctor killed isn't the best thing to do Garrus." He replied.

"I didn't have time to think I just acted… doctor Michel are you alright?"

She replied. "I'm fine, thank you; these thugs were after a quarian."

"Does she know anything about Saren?" Daniel inquired.

"Yes, but she wouldn't tell me what, but she needed protection, so I contacted the Shadow Broker, and let Fist take care of things."

"Well there's some bad news, Fist isn't working for the Broker anymore."

"He was paid out by Saren." Garrus finished.

"He betrayed the Shadow Broker, that's stupid even for him."

"Well it's too late now, he's either a dead man walking or just dead." Garrus said.

"Well I've done all we can, thank you doctor." Daniel was about to leave when.

"Wait, Daniel let me come." Garrus said.

"Why?"

"Because I can help, ii know the wards better than anyone, and I have skill and the talent as well as the experience."

Daniel contemplated the idea of having Garrus around; it would help to have someone.

"Fine, you can come along, though I'm not too sure if you can keep up, if things get more than just messy."

"Trust me there are more than enough years here to help with whatever the galaxy could possibly throw."

"Then welcome aboard." He held his hand out.

The two proceeded to look for Wrex.

XXXXX

Thirty minutes later.

Shepard and her team had arrived at Chora's Den; they waited for Daniel to show up.

Which Daniel did, he appeared to have had an interesting day, Wrex the Krogan bounty hunter and Garrus from before were at his side.

Daniel was also carrying some bags and cases, most of them looked heavy.

"So shopping?" She asked as he approached.

"You know me; I know what the ladies like."

He unstrapped a case revealing a set of armour designated with the name Ash, Williams jaw nearly dropped.

"Got this done before we arrived, hope you like it, besides you really don't need to remove you armour."

The suit went over her other one and secured itself, the black and white armour with N7 on the side, and the ODST helmet with TAC display, she was in heaven, the suit was not even bulky.

"Here's the rest." Daniel said, revealing the new armaments.

DMR rifles and some new pistols and a very heavy looking rocket launcher.

"It must be Christmas." Was all Shepard could say, as she lifted the MA9A rifle Daniel made.

XXXXX

The rush into the club was simple, get Fist and interrogate him, though Wrex was paid to kill him.

The first team was Daniels which had Garrus and Wrex, while second team was Shepard's.

Daniel activated the door, hissing open he shot the three thugs at the bar and the bulk head and the platform. The rounds simply killed them outright, though the Krogan bouncer was a little harder, Wrex dealt with him.

Blowing past the rest of the guards, Shepard watched as Daniel mowed his way through, he was leaving her behind. 'How is he getting through so fast?' She thought.

At the entrance he found two dock workers. "Freeze or we'll shoot." One said.

"I think you guys really need a new job." Daniel said as he pointed to the 7 other bodies in a line.

"Right well, we'll be leaving." "Yeah I never liked Fist anyway."

"That's new." Garrus said.

"Violence doesn't need to solve everything."

"Well it does for me." Wrex added.

Moving into Fists office Daniel could hear him panic.

Moving around he saw fist preparing to fight, he didn't give much of a chance, and Garrus disabled the turrets that appeared with a static concussion round from the just walked over and slung his shotgun across Fists head.

"Where's the quarian?" Daniel asked as he put his augmented arm into his neck.

"Why should I tell you?" He said with gritted teeth.

"Because it either ends with me not knowing and you being neutered by my Krogan friend here, or with me knowing and you get out alive." Daniel said with a very definite threat.

"She wanted to meet the Shadow Broker but I gave her over to Saren's men, she'll be walking into a trap, it's behind the markets."

Daniel dropped him. "Get out." Fist was just about to leave when.

BANG. The agent simply limped over from a round to the head from Wrex.

"Never leave a job half finished."

"Wrex, you know I did just let him go, for my part you better hope he doesn't come crawling out of a grave because of you." Daniel said.

"Well I had a job you know."

"We better go now." Garrus said.

"Right, but next time Wrex, you tell first me before you shoot someone."

"I'll consider it."

The trio rushed back outside and ran head first into Shepard how was now slowing the thug reinforcements.

"So find anything?" She asked firing a few more rounds.

"The quarian is going to be ambushed in an alleyway outside, and that Fist is dead, not much."

"Well what are we going to do, they've brought in some extra muscle and it'll take too long to cut through." She said over the gunfire.

"Well I can sneak past and go to the quarians rescue, or just run head first." He said.

(Here's your choice in action.)

Another explosion rocked their cover.

"That's it I'm going to secure the quarian you and the others, just keep them busy."

"Wait!" She yelled but Daniel had already run from cover.

Firing at the thugs he chewed them out easy, and made his rush for the doorway, though one thug came in as he went out, he flattened the poor guy.

Outside he was bolting down to the alleyway mentioned by Fist; it was left of the transit terminal and through the red doorway.

He ended up with a quarian who had just been talking to a turian.

Activating his active camouflage he crept behind the turian.

"Where's Fist, where's the Shadow Broker?" The quarian asked.

"They'll be here soon." He said running his hand down her arm.

She pulled away. "Forget it, the deal's off."

The turian was about to nod to his fellow assassins when he noticed that something was wrong.

His head was now at his feet, and his body just collapsing, it didn't take long for him to know what happened.

The quarian stumbled back in surprise and horror, the turians head came clean off, and now there was a type of black armoured soldier who materialised out of nowhere and was killing the would be assassins.

Daniel drove the knife through the next one after the turian, and shot the last assassin in the head with his pistol.

Turning to face the stunned quarian, he asked.

"Are you okay?"

It took Tali a moment to regain her composure to reply.

"Yes."

"I am special operations lieutenant Daniel 312 of the systems alliance."

"Tali Zorah Nar Rayya, I was tricked by Fist."

"Well he's been taken care of."

"Then I guess I have two things to thank you for."

She really did not know what to make of the lieutenant, big and definitely strong, and something of a mystery.

"Commander, I have the witness and holding her here." Daniel said over the com.

"Good we'll meet at the presidium keep her safe, we're just finishing up."

XXXXX

Daniel and Shepard had returned to the presidium with the rest of the team, which were now a turian and a krogan and one quarian.

"You're not making my life easy the two of you, a fire fight in the wards, an all-out…" Udina noticed the seven people now standing there.

"And now you bring a whole army to my doorstep?"

"Well ambassador we have just the thing to make your day." Daniel said.

"And what would that be?"

"Tali could you please show him what evidence you have."

"Hold on a quarian?" Ashley asked.

"My name is Tali, and yes I have the evidence."

"I thought quarians live on the flotilla, what are you doing so far out." Anderson asked.

"How about the evidence first, before we do some research into other species." Daniel said out loud.

"Right, well here's what I found on a geth I managed to track and separate, I managed to save some details in."

The recording played.

"Eden Prime was a major victory; the beacon has revealed the location of the conduit."

"We are now one step closer to our goal."

"Lopez, give them the plans."

Anderson interjected. "That's Saren's voice.

Tali quipped. "I also found this."

A female voice in the background could be heard.

"And one more step to the return of the Reapers."

Udina asked. "Who was that other voice?"

"Don't know, but it could probably be one of Saren's second in commands." Ash said.

"If so we better notify the council." Kaiden said.

(Somewhere else in the Galaxy…)

"Lopez, get over here." Saren said angrily, then again when was he ever better.

(Spanish) "What do you want, you jackass."

"We need the production of the new models complete as soon as possible, we have been discovered and I don't think those incompetent humans are going to let us have our way."

(Spanish) "You know, I have already gotten past this with you twice, prick."

"Whatever you said I do not care, hurry up with the new geth factory production we need these dumb drones to accomplish our goals, and clean up that mess."

(Spanish) "You really are an asshole; you couldn't even afford to buy a new translator for my voice."

"I don't understand and I don't care just hurry up."

(Spanish) "Fuck you, lazy douche, you frigging cheapskate."

"You know I heard that."

(Spanish) "Yeah well what can you do I control your army."

The conversation ended there.

There was a pause.

"So this proves Saren well more than likely to be involved, and this gives us a direct view of his objective, but who's Lopez?" Anderson asked.

"Oh some Spanish robot that the guys I now built, he doesn't hate organics, but he was made to build things really, I guess he ended up there."

"Well it looks like we better go see the council; we have the evidence, but what about the quarian."

"My name is Tali, I said this before, and i wish to come along."

"But this is dangerous, more so than anything else, if Saren is involved and the geth then we have more enemies than allies out there."

"My pilgrimage doesn't matter if the galaxy is destroyed, I would never pass a chance to save the galaxy."

"Well we could always have need of an engineer, even though it isn't with mass effect fields." Daniel said.

"Do you think we should bring her along?" Shepard asked.

"Why not then, more the merrier, or more with technical skills, the better the Normandy can run."

"Welcome aboard then." Daniel said.

"Thank you, you won't regret this." Tali said as she walked along side of him.

"So we meet at the council chambers again?" Shepard asked.

"Yes and make sure the quarian is in safe hands, we trust your judgement commander."

Udina and Anderson walked out.

"Well we got some time to kill, Shepard I'm just going about with my team; we'll meet you at the chambers." Daniel said.

"Fine I needed to get some supplies anyway."

They went about to do what they needed.

Daniel decided to take the tour around the presidium and the sights.

Garrus and Wrex had an interesting discussion about the Krogan monument, and Tali interjected with how the quarians were still outcast even though what they did was comparably small to how much the krogans did.

After a few minutes and talking to the Dotty VI's they made their way to the tower.

Inside they arrived just in time to see Anderson waiting at the steps.

"Come on, the council is hearing our findings."

The council themselves were composing themselves well except the turian councillor.

"Well that was the evidence, and maybe a few of his accomplices." Udina said.

Tevos was more considering of the whole situation.

"Well this evidence definitely proves that Saren was involved with the geth and the attack, and maybe production of illegal machines."

"Saren's spectre status will be revoked and a warrant will be out for his arrest."

"That is not good enough send out your fleet."

"A single fleet is not capable of searching the traverse for one fugitive."

"It could start a war with the terminus systems."

"Then maybe you don't need a fleet." Daniel said.

XXXXX

(WAIT- Now we decide, is Daniel or Shepard to become the Spectre?) Or both, you now decide the fate of the story, and how things go.

BTW the RVB guys will be back, but the story plot needs a fast forwards, do you want me to cross parts of the RVB guys into a majority or just minor parts.

Rewrite complete.


	11. Chapter 10

My name is?

This last chapter had to rewrite, some issues, but it was okay.

The turian councillor was apprehensive of the idea.

"It's too soon."

Daniel put his idea forwards.

"You don't need to send a fleet or waste resources, we can get this done."

"We, what do you…" Shepard realised.

"I had years of combat experience and training as well as efficiency, everyone has heard of my efforts on Eden Prime and of my experience in my own galaxy."

"What, you come from another galaxy?" Tali asked.

"More to the point, I have done nearly as better as any other living human or soldier in known alliance space."

(Here is your choice; BTW it was 5-2 or something I can't remember.)

"Very well, Commander Shepard, Special operation Lieutenant Daniel, step forwards."

The two did, and the council faced stood straighter to address both of them, other species started to crowd around to see the moment in history.

"It is in the decision of the council to grant you the powers and privileges of the special tactics and reconnaissance branch of the citadel."

"Spectres are not trained but chosen, individuals forged from the fire of service in battle, those whose actions elevate above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, an embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance; they are the right hand of the council, instruments of our will."

Spectres bear a great burden; they are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defence, the duty is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human spectres, lieutenant, commander; this is a great accomplishment for you."

"We are honoured councillor." Daniel said.

"We are sending you into the Traverse after Saren he's a fugitive from justice so you are authorised to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him." The Salarian councillor said.

"Well find him."

Tevos finished. "This meeting of the council is now adjourned."

Anderson went up to shake both their hands.

"Congratulations Shepard, Daniel."

"We've got a lot of work to do for both of you; you're going to need a ship, supplies."

"You've got access to special equipment and training now."

"Yes, but not as good as my equipment." Daniel said.

"Anderson come with me, I'll need your help to set all this up." Udina said.

The two walked off.

"Bastard didn't even thank you." Wrex said as he greeted the two.

"Well, I guess not much has changed." Daniel said.

"Well we need to get to work, so we're now two separate teams, Daniel couldn't thank you enough for the brilliant idea."

"Yah well, we need to get to work." He said.

"Tali, Garrus, Wrex come on, we need to go to the Dock I think I already know what we need."

"Great, well see you around Shepard, I have a few things I need to attend." Daniel said with three aliens following him.

"Where does he find everyone?" Ashley asked.

"No idea."

XXXXX

45 minutes later.

Shepard found that Udina and Anderson were waiting for her.

"Commander, Captain Anderson is stepping down from command of the Normandy. The ship is now yours and Daniels, who is already aboard."

"Wait when did he get here?"

"Just thirty minutes ago, saying he was going to miss, Captain Anderson, and thanked him."

The conversation outside of the window was not too much of concern to Daniel, he had already been briefed, and he knew what to do. Therum was going to be the first of the things, but he had to wait for something.

"Hey LT, can you believe it, the council suddenly made you a spectre, but the captain had to step down bummer, well you should watch your back, any screw ups and the politicans would have you served raw."

The airlock opened to a rather docile Shepard and team.

"Well we better get going shouldn't we?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, but we better say a few words before we leave."

"Ship's listening commander." Joker said.

"This is Commander Shepard speaking; we have our orders, find Saren before he finds the conduit. I won't lie to you, crew. This mission isn't going to be easy."

"This is Lieutenant Daniel, we know what we have to do, and I assure you, even when everything seems at the worst. Believe and we will make it through…"

"For too long has our species stood out from apart from the others. Now it is time for us to stand up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy, time to show them what we can do, united with others."

"Our enemy knows were coming. When we go into the traverse, Saren's forces will be waiting for us. But we'll be ready for them too."

"Humanity needs to do this, if not for our own sake, but for the sake of every other species, in Citadel space. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you all… we will stop him."

"Well said commander, Lt. The captain would be proud." Joker said to them.

"The captain gave up everything so we could have this chance, we can't fail." Shepard said as she walked away.

"Well it's going to get interesting around here." Daniel said.

XXXXX

The jump to Therum was going to take a few days, and Daniel had plenty of time to get to know the crew better.

Going down to engineering he met Adams.

"So how is everything going?"

"Well sir, everything is fine. Though I got to say, you know the quarian you brought aboard."

"Is she causing you any trouble?"

"No, she's great at her work, probably understands more than me, though I was a bit of surprise for her, the fusion drive is nothing like she has seen, but thanks to Dot she has managed to understand the basic function of the core drive isn't too different though it's self-regulated by Dot, so it's well."

"Okay then, see you around Adams."

"Okay, lieutenant."

Adams went on with what he had to do; Daniel had to speak to Tali. She was at the console, on the other end of the room.

"Hey Tali, how's everything?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, hi Daniel, I'm fine, the Normandy is amazing, and the sheer size and it is a marvel of technology, though I had to brush up on some details." She hesitated. "It's just that the ship as great as it is, Dot is not a VI and I know this because she told me." Her voice was nervous.

"Well it's not like I hate Dot it's strange to have an AI that's helpful and not like the Geth."

Daniel brushed up on some of the quarian history before leaving. "Well, look Dot is from where I come from, and she's built to be helpful, though she isn't capable of harming others, she's programmed like a human, with morals and some understandings."

"I know it's just strange, all the races aboard the ship, and then there you are, the extra-galactic human, with the super human strength and nice abs..." She said absently, and realised the mistake of looking at his black skin suit.

"AHH, I mean, the suit seems like it emphasises your looks." She said panicking.

"Well, umm, it was nice talking to you, and yes the suit does emphasise the look of my body, I was going to ask if you could come around later to the development room, I made something you might like."

"Okay, I'll see you there." She said quickly turning back to the console.

'Idiot, why did you say, his abs were so.'

Daniel moved away, not disturbed but curious as to why Tali mentioned his abs.

'Well if things go on, I might have a problem.' He thought.

The fact alone he had Ash and Vinaya chasing him, and probably every other woman who heard the news about the first human spectres, was not helping his relationship issues.

XXXXX

Time: 14:25

One day before reaching Therum, Daniel was preparing his surprise for Tali. He was just finishing the last few details, when suddenly Tali entered.

"Oh, Daniel, you said for me to meet you here earlier, is it finished?"

"Yes just adding some minor details, the suit is now ready."

"Suit, what suit?" She asked.

"The one I started constructing alongside the others." He said.

Pulling up the table, it revealed the length of a black and grey suit, shaped like Tali it had a definite look that made her enviro-suit look out dated.

Though it seemed more for combat, and aesthetics, in place of her visor it had a ODST shaped helmet for her, the suit was also seemingly like her own, but with areas covered slightly more, there was a knife pocket on the thigh and an interesting add on.

TAC VISR as Daniel named; was a VISR with tactical data updates, VI or AI ports, a fully capable mapping system installed, and special stealth scanners to pick out specific enemies, the tech upgrade was the Holo-tool, capable more than that of the usual Omni.

Tali looked like she was going to have a fun day.

"I don't know what to say, thank you, would be appropriate but no one has ever built a suit for me."

"Nah it was a simple task comparably to the others, besides yours didn't take that long."

"Have you sterilized it?"

"Yes and I have a change room with a complete bio-filter chamber over on the end of the room."

"Okay I'll go test this out." She said as she picked the suit up.

"Don't rush it; there might be some details that shouldn't be overlooked."

Then it was Garrus then the Krogan.

Garrus entered through the door.

"So you wanted to see me?"

"Right, I made something special for the team, here's yours." Daniel said as he revealed on another table a turian shaped suit, with an integrated VISR just like Tali but not as advanced.

"There are changing rooms but Tali is using the one in the corner just be careful not to accidently knock the door."

"Right, I'll get this done then." Garrus said.

(The reason for this was to test the suits of any malfunction before the mission.)

Now for the Krogan, who he not entirely planned for, though the suit wasn't going to be ready till later, so he didn't need to worry.

A few minutes later and both Tali and Garrus came out of the changing rooms.

"So, does this make me look any different?" Tali asked.

"No you're good, besides it seems to suit you."

Garrus asked. "Why is there a grenade belt when I only use rifles and pistols?"

"That's not a grenade belt that is the ammo belt, we have had some upgrades since and you've noticed Garrus, I had to make the newer weapons capable of taking on the geth and Saren's forces, all we needed was a change in gear."

"Wait ammo, are you kidding me, the weight and use of such weapons are going to strain us."

"Which is why the ammo is super condensed, the small canisters on the belt are heat sinks and the specific ammo packs are on your back, those ammo packs can fire nearly half a thousand times, plus the size of the shots are much larger, doing more damage and more fire power on the field, you guys will carry only three weapons of your choice, and whatever else you need."

"So give up a space for more fire power and more strength, an interesting design, though I must say, the suit does help a lot with speed." Garrus said as he flexed his arm.

"And the self-assist system with motion tracker and scanner is an interesting addition too." Tali added.

"Well wait until you see these." Daniel said as he pulled out a case.

Opening the case, Garrus and Tali were surprised at what they found, there were eight different coloured small boxes, one with a different icon.

"Meet the MKI permutations; they can adapt new things such as increased speed, cloaking, holo-projectors, armour lock and a few others which are over on the other table." Daniel pointed to the table with the jetpack and drop shields.

You can choose any attachment they tend to come in handy."

"Impressive, you wouldn't have anything for my Kuwashii?" Garrus pointed to the visor on his left.

"I might have something." Daniel searched about through some draws.

"Here it is." A green visor much like Garrus's sat inside a case, black frame and an interesting form.

"This is something for marksmen, I really hadn't tested it yet, it is a poly Dura-steel alloy, a nice add in with the chrome black finish, and has an effective range at targets over one kilometer away, can auto trace and target and pretty much find you wherever."

"What about media?"

Daniel smiled. "Fully expandable holo screen display over a meter x and y, with a HD full resolution, or a MP in the ear, and easily portable with ten thousand songs, I might have put some of mine in though."

"There anything else, I need to know about?" Garrus asked.

"Plenty but most of it's in the manual."

"Thanks Daniel." Garrus said as he took the new little gadget.

"Looks like, someone is happy." Tali said.

"Well you know Garrus, a better marksman than me, almost. So how's the new suit?"

"It fits well, and the amount of things in this is amazing, I never knew you could see everything in different view point and the color scheme is quite nice."

"Well hope to see you around Tali, and remember if there's a problem just come and see me."

She walked out of the room, happy and interested in Daniels handy work.

"So you have a new friend?" Vinaya asked as her usual quip.

"Why getting jealous?" Daniel asked.

"No but remember I was here first, if she's going to get rid of me that easily she has another thing coming."

"Vinaya I think your evil."

XXXXX

Therum alpha drop point: 0900

Shepard had always been on different simulators and most of them were pretty accurate about the standard procedure of drops including the Mako, but she never knew even with it, things get rough, especially with a Spartan.

The Mako dropped out of orbit, the external thruster packs kicked in, the ship began a slow descent on to the ground, the red surface was easy make out as there were volcanic lakes in between them, and Shepard had never thought a Mako could with stand atmospheric re-entry.

Hitting the ground the Mako shook as it compensated for the sudden impact, and then Daniel began driving.

The winding road of volcanic red mud and dirt path seemed to lead into an open field as it headed up to the objective.

Joker came over the com.

"Umm commander, I'm getting some weird readings from Dot."

"We have anomalous energy signature to the north of your position Shepard, I also detect other local signatures converging on your position, I advise you to move."

As she finished a Geth drop ship appeared.

XXXXX

(We will continue, and guess what Jorge is in the next few chapters later.)

So here's how it goes.

Do you want Jorge to be on the Covenant ship or off it?

Does the necessity of me going through weapons and gadget specs really matter?

Do you want the scorpion back?

How is the mission to continue, and who do I need for this chapter. (There are six on the Mako, Daniel and Shepard take two so we need four."


	12. Chapter 11

This is how we do things my way…

(VOTES are in)

RVB guys are now premiering on the next paragraph

Tank is coming back later

Jorge is on the corvette and crash lands someplace, later though

And we Tali as definite partner for Daniel and then extra, but that depends on Garrus I think or Wrex

But later for Jorge there is going to be a plot twist

ENJOY

XXXXX

Therum, Alpha rally point: 0905

The Mako flew through the air at top speeds, though it was obvious to see that there was a reason, four geth walkers, known as armature had appeared with a lot of friends. Swerving the Mako left and right to avoid the energy pulses, Shepard had Daniel handle the gun.

Firing another high powered shell of tungsten, Daniel realised that the gun on the Mako had less destructive fire power than a gauss gun compared to the scorpion tank.

"Get us through quick and fast, don't worry about the walker's just get through to the tunnels and lose them." Daniel said over the com.

The Mako sped up, dodging left and right; it finally made its way up till they saw a very large looking version of the armature. Rearing up it fired an energy pulse nearly hitting the Mako; Daniel brought the gun to bear on the walker and called out.

"Bring us behind it and circle it, the walker was meant for firepower not speed."

It took the longest amount of time to kill just that walker.

"So, let's never use this thing against one of those things ever again." Daniel said.

"Agreed, that was more trouble than it was worth." Shepard said.

XXXXX

Rally point Bravo

Reaching their target the team got out of the Mako, there was a wall of rocks that were blocking the entrance, and there wasn't enough time to get the Mako to clear it.

So they continued on foot for a good 30 seconds before a team of geth popped their heads up.

Daniel was in no mood for killing these things, they were just a waste of ammo and time, and they had seemingly endless numbers to throw at them.

You had to wonder why there were so many though, another round exploded as Daniel and Shepard's team advanced to the dig site.

XXXXX

HERE IT IS

(Somewhere else in the galaxy)

Lopez was going through the usual to do list, with just more to do.

(Spanish) "Why can't this place stay clean for more than five minutes?" Lopez said to no one in particular as he swept out the bits and pieces of a geth prototype.

(Spanish) "They are an advanced alien species yet they didn't make a means of cleaning grease stains or plasma fluid, what idiots."

"LOPEZ, where is my spare set of parts?" Saren yelled from his bedroom.

(Spanish) "It's under the table."

"Why is there a container with no lid?" Benezia yelled.

(Spanish) "At least it wasn't as bad with the reds." Lopez said with a sigh.

Poor Lopez

Omega- Afterlife

On his arrival to the space station, Wash was greeted by one of Aria T'loak's men, he told him to go see her in afterlife. And now he was here.

"That's close enough." The asari said.

The guards drew their weapons as Wash made his way up.

"I suppose you know why I'm here." Wash said as a guard came to scan him.

"I know as much as you do." Aria replied as the guard continued to scan him.

"You know if you're looking for weapons, it might be better to look where they are." Wash pulled his pistol out.

"He's clean." The guard said and backed off.

"Well one can be too careful, especially with Cerberus." Aria said.

"Well I don't work for Cerberus directly, it's bad for business, and only thing I came here for was-"

"The same piece of alien technology that went missing some time ago from a Cerberus base." Aria finished.

"And that's all I'm here for, but maybe a drink later."

"I'll toast you if you succeed, but right now we need some ground rules you need to follow, that usually applies to everyone." She said as she sat down.

"Don't fuck with Aria."

Wash smiled. "Well that's easy enough to remember."

"And if you forget." Aria pointed to the guard.

"I throw your sorry ass out of the airlock."

"Yeah let's see how far you get when I start beating your head in with your own skull."

Aria laughed. "Now that's something I would pay to watch."

"That doesn't seem physically possible." Jacob said.

"Trust me it can happen, when you meet a girl named Tex she'll prove it clear enough."

"So down to business, you're here for the Key aren't you?"

"Guess you know more than I thought."

"It pays to have others look into things before they arrive."

"And it pays well to know where it is."

"Then you're in luck, the Shadow Broker has it, and he isn't going to give it back."

"How did the Shadow Broker get his hands on it?"

"Simple, he brought an army down through the lower levels and somehow managed to get his troops to secure it, it's somewhere in the systems, or more specifically, on a planet in the systems."

"Which planet is it?"

"Don't know, the Broker hid the damn thing well, we lost track after three relays, somewhere near Hawking Eta."

"But let me guess, it's on a base."

"More like a fort, the planet it's in the century system, and you don't even need to look about there's about seven ships, mostly a few cruisers and such, but also a large space station."

"And they're there for what?"

"The collectors, the alien race from beyond the Omega four relay."

"So something of an exchange, thanks we better go now." Wash said standing up.

"You know you aren't going to get far without help, and I doubt that shuttle could do much."

"That's why I'm not looking for a shuttle; I'm going to get some help."

"Well, I'll be here, come back if you succeed, I might have something to trade."

"We'll see." With that Wash and Miranda and Jacob headed off to one person they could get help from.

XXXXX

"Okay we never do that ever again." Grif said as he sat back down.

"How did you survive?" Simmons asked.

"I called him a loner and that his mom never loved him, and his dad dead, and no one liked him. Then he started crying I don't know."

"Wait how do tanks cry?"

"By firing machine guns at everything, how do you think I have this hole in my leg?"

"Well at least we got away."

"Who's flying the ship?" Grif asked.

"Sarge…" The horror struck them.

SARGE!

They both bolted as fast as they could, but with Grif being so pudgy it took twice as long.

Entering the cockpit, they found Sarge at the controls, and everything seemed fine…

"Finally, you two better buckle up, there's one of those relay thingies and I can't find the control for the… what as it again?"

XXXXX

On the Idenna

Donut was having the time of his life, especially since he's been chosen to help some kid named Veetor on his trip.

"So, you're nervous?" He asked.

"Not really, just this is something I really don't know about."

"Well that's okay; everyone gets nervous when trying to do something new."

"So when do we head out?"

"We're already leaving, and first stop is I think is this nice planet called Horizon, it looks nice, and I'm sure the locals are friendly."

"Okay then, but we're supposed to be looking for something of value, not a sightseeing trip."

"No I'm sure there is something of value, besides you're an engineer, I'm sure you can make something that might help improve things, and if it works we can earn enough for something special."

"But how sure are you about that?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"That isn't comforting Donut."

XXXXX

Illium

"Well shit, can a guy get a break here?"

Church said to himself, he wasn't having the best of days at work; an asari spectre came crashing through the whole place chasing the manager over some corruption charges and tax claim avoided by the citadel.

And now he was either soon to be out of the job or in more trouble, he had chased after them because.

His boss accidently took his wallet and second of all, the spectre had his keys for his car.

And now he was in a factory tied to a chair being interrogated by a guy from Cerberus, which he had escaped from before and was now again in their hands.

His life really sucked at this point.

"So what have we here, Church you SOB how did you fall so fast?" The dickhead said the guy's actual name was Johnny.

"Johnny fuck head, I thought you were off doing your thing to other alien girls, or molesting children for those sick experiments, asshole, how about letting me off, I got work in the morning." Church received a blow to the face for his troubles.

"Come on blue boy, we know your behind this mess, the chasing the nice Tela Vasir, if I was sure enough you ditched that black armored bitch for this chick, smart move, she would've flattened you into the floor."

"Yeah, well what about you, I thought she smacked your head around more than once and flipped you into the window."

"Hey that wasn't fair, she had cut the ropes I never knew she could hide something like that and then kick me in the nuts."

"Well that's Tex for you."

Johnny walked around him, probably deciding what to do next, but Church had a surprise in ready.

XXXXX

(Back to main story line.)

Therum mining complex entrance

Somehow thing tend to get worse, or just FUBAR at this point, the slug through with the geth on the hill was annoying, practically a platoon strength and snipers.

And now there was more, a pulse shot ran past his head, as he was now engaged with his team and Shepard's against more than a platoon and an armature which had come from the friendly geth frigate. Somehow Daniel felt like he really pissed Saren off, more so seeing there was an army chasing after him and Shepard.

"Tali, duck!" He said as he fired over her head.

The round made contact with the torso of a juggernaut, blowing the circuits inside to pieces.

The battle had been going for over 10 minutes and there was little slowing down, the geth continued to rush their position, and it was straining his ammo, he was just about to resort to it….

The best and last option Daniel had left, though it was going to be risky he had very little choice, the armature was advancing and the geth were relentless.

Activating his speed boost he had a single choice, and it was going to hurt a lot.

"Cover me." He said as he ran head first into the geth.

They saw them turn their attention to him as he made his break to the armature.

Shepard and the others fired while they were distracted.

Pushing through he cut his way through the geth troops, punching some and kicking as he charged to the armature, at this point it had turned to face him, and charging the cannon, Daniel knew it had taken the bait.

Activating armour lock, he slammed his fist into the ground as the shields flared into overdrive; the shot went in and shimmered off. Though they noticed something in his hand, it looked like a…

A bright lance of light followed as the small orb in Daniels hand detonated, the geth within 25m were all disabled and any beyond lost their shields to the mini EMP blast.

Another gadget Daniel constructed was from the grenade launchers on reach, capable of detonating with mini EM fields that removed shields and technology; he integrated this into a variant of his plasma grenade.

Now mopping up, Shepard cleared a way through to check on Daniel; of course she didn't really need to worry he was sitting atop the armature and waiting with a smile on his face.

"Faster than me, nice, and stronger and more efficient, well looks like I met my match." She said.

"Don't worry, I am to please."

"I bet so any plans as to how we get the nice doctor out of the dig site?"

"Shoot things as they come along and mix it up a little, and then run like hell."

Seemed straight forward enough and there was bound to be more geth and probably more trouble so why not.

"Let's get going, Daniel and your team up front."

"Right, Garrus, Tali lets go."

"I'm right behind you, lieutenant." Garrus said.

"Right there with you Daniel." Tali said.

They proceeded down through the shaft.

XXXXX

Upon entering the tunnel to the mining complex, Daniel found himself with an edge, switching to his MA9A he loaded his secondary with shotgun rounds for CQB; he ordered the same for the team.

"Wait, I see one geth ahead, I'll take him, follow up when it goes down, understood?"

"Right, Daniel." Tali said.

Garrus nodded.

Daniel activated his cloaking, and began jamming the area; the geth would never see what hit them.

A few feet at the entrance a lone geth trooper stood guard oblivious to what was behind it, it did hear something strange, then a sharp jolt alerted it that it's signal was being jammed, it was about to move when a sudden loss of power occurred, a resonating knife was in its torso.

Daniel removed the blade and then carefully set the geth down; he moved it so the other geth wouldn't see that a unit was missing.

Over the team com he called.

"Garrus, Tali, move forwards carefully, there are geth on the catwalk below us."

"Shepard, I've cleared the first landing, we're moving ahead to the strange energy reading."

"Right were coming through the airlock now." She said.

Garrus crept through followed by Tali in their ODST armour, Garrus began a quick seep for any heat signatures, and after a few seconds he found there were some on the level below and on the ground.

"Tali send jamming signals all over the place, it'll confuse them, and Garrus set your rifle with disrupter ammo."

"Acknowledged, setting now."

The team moved slowly down, another geth stood at the platform edge, this time Tali had point, removing her blade she carefully moved into its blind spot, and then in a similar motion like Daniel shoved the knife through the torso, but she stabbed it too close to the sensors than its core. It flailed about for a few seconds until she stabbed again into its head.

"Sorry, I'm new to the cloak and dagger type of thing."

"No problem, just make sure you use the VISR with the sensory data and vision system to look into them next time, it really helps."

"OH." She checked the visor again and it turned black and white, projecting the internal workings of different things, more or less like X-ray.

"Let's keep moving there's still more ahead."

Moving along the catwalk they saw no remaining troopers or any geth units, the lift on the other side activated and began to crawl down, though it was obvious that it made enough noise for everything to hear of their presence.

When they exited to get to the next elevator they were greeted by four drones and a squad of geth troopers.

Ducking down, the geth began their assault, Daniel was really running thin with his patience, there was enough problems with dealing with rescue and he used up his only EMP for taking out large concentrations, he was now using his wits to keep the team alive.

"Fire on the troopers, I'll dispatch the drones."

Pulling out his DMR he began snipping the drones out of the air, though they didn't do too well about moving, considering the fact they were inside a cavern.

Garrus dropped two troopers and Tali dropped the rocket trooper behind them, Daniel quickly returned to removing the primary threat, firing his DMR with armour piercing he blew apart the remaining three.

"Shepard we made some new friends how about you?"

"Same, they sent a drone detachment and a squad from behind us, sneaky bastards."

"Well we'll meet you with the doctor down on the ground level, see you there."

"Right, see you."

Daniel turned the team com off.

"Come on let's move, we'll catch up with Shepard down on the ground."

They reached the second elevator which surprisingly began to spark and sputter.

"That can't be good." Garrus said as the door opened.

"Shepard, we might have a problem."

"What is it?" She called over the com.

"The lift broke, and I don't see another way down, there might be something at the camp we could use but you need to find an alternate route."

"Great, well keep going we'll try and catch up."

"Right see you down here later."

Daniel turned his com of and said to Garrus and Tali.

"We have to head on our own, while commander finds her own route, it might be helpful if we could find something to get them down here."

XXXXX

Shepard was not having things go easy on her, now having to deal with finding a way down, she and Wrex and Ashley had now been forced to take an alternate route.

"So, is there anything you can see that we could use to get down there?"

"Not here, Commander."

"Maybe some explosive tanks and some heavy weapons might burrow a big enough hole to safely make a landing for us to jump on." Wrex said.

The two females were surprised that Wrex had even thought about something like that, but then again this was Wrex.

"And where do we get explosive tanks?"

"How about, the one's sitting right there along the wall." He said pointing at the boxes of demolition charges and fuel cells.

"Well I'll be damned."

The sound of gunfire from below alerted them something had gone wrong.

"Commander, the geth have managed to somehow sneak a platoon and a prime as well as a lot of drones into one area."

"Right, we'll be there soldier just watch for the signal."

"We'll look for it alright but don't take too long."

XXXXX


	13. Chapter 12

"It's time to kick ass and chew bubble-gum, and I'm all out of gum".

HERE is the rest of RVB.

Tucker had days on the station when things just didn't work out, right now, was just one of those days.

He moved about cleaning the tables in the cafeteria, he had a seven hour shift and he needed the over-time after four to save for a trip to Elysium, he had heard of the nice beaches and warm sands and the hot asari lying on the beach.

A smack to the side of the head woke him back to reality.

"Tuck, get to work we have another serving on and you need to put it on table twenty." The female chef said.

"Right, I'll get to it." He said miserably.

He needed a new job.

XXXXX

Caboose was having a great morning he had that new implant installed to help with his knowledge boundaries. Which he now retained more information than he ever did, and he was more attentive and smarter.

Looking about there he found himself now under the employment of a bunch of asari researchers, at an institute on Terra Nova, a nice asari lady named Batha and her krogan bodyguard had decided to have him tester for some new innovations they had come up with.

He agreed, not because he was stupid because he wanted another job, and that and the pay was better.

XXXXX

To another certain extent we go back to Church.

He had been lying on a table, with cuffs on his wrists, and an interrogation in progress of him confessing to the fact that he kicked Johnny in the nuts.

"Okay so I confess five months ago I might have kicked you in the nuts, by the way anything left down there?" He said with a chuckle before being smacked again.

"Oh there's plenty to go around here Church, we can be total assholes or you can start telling me what I need to know."

"What's there to say, I can't find her and neither can you."

Well let's see about that then…

Just as he was about to hit Church with an energised baton, Church dent his head fast, letting it strike the binds on his chair, the cuff gave out and Church threw the only punch that Jonny was ever going to remember, next to Tex kicking his nuts.

Quickly working, Church unshackled himself, and began moving about, looking inside the warehouse, he found the asari spectre unconscious, he untied her and got moving.

"Last time I do anything nice, for the chick that steals from me."

XXXXX

Now Veetor was having a great time with his fellow Donut.

Donut was a people person after all, and after helping with some crop harvesters in the fields, he came up with a brilliant idea for an invention, which made them rich.

A type of juice and mixer for the annual harvest and then something he had added in from a ship design and then called it a JOTUN-S5, something he had back on his own farm.

It was definitely effective, and very fast at its harvesting, it made them practically rich within a week, and now they were planning to go places, though Veetor seemed happy here, and made plans to hire workers from the migrant fleet to help production.

Another fellow named Kenn was heading in from the fleet, though he was new as Veetor they would get along well.

XXXXX

After the radio talk with Shepard on the previous chapter

"Hello is somebody there?" A slightly panicked voice cried out.

"It looks like we found our doctor." Daniel said as he began to climb down.

They reached the bottom of a destroyed platform to see a wall of energy and behind it an asari floating inside of a sphere.

"Hello can somebody please help me?" Please." She called out.

She looked to them. "Are you… are you real? Oh no don't be stupid Liara humans do not come here, you're hallucinating. And you're talking to yourself 'hysterical laugh.' Oh goddess I'm going to die here."

Daniel and the others assumed she had been in there for probably the last few days.

"No we're real and we're getting you out of there."

"Your awfully lucid for a hallucination, they don't usually claim to be real. Or do they, I don't know I usually don't hallucinate. At least I don't think I do."

"My name is Daniel and I'm part of the special tactics and recon."

"A Spectre, ha, that's good. What else would I conjure up? A protector figure yes perfect comforting. Well I'll play along. As you can see I'm trapped here, if you're as real as you say you are, find a way to get me out."

"Well this is an energy field; we just need to figure a way round."

"It's a prothean barrier field, I thought it would keep me safe from the geth, but when I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I've been trapped here for over three day, you must get me out please."

"Right, we'll find a way."

"Of course, what good is a hallucination if it can't offer false hope?"

Daniel decided not to talk to the slightly shaken doctor; he looked about at the camp.

"Right let's see what there is. A mining laser, a camp area, maybe some explosives, and some geth shock troopers… 'Sigh' DUCK!" He yelled as the geth began firing.

"Commander, the geth have managed to somehow sneak a platoon and a prime as well as a lot of drones into one area."

"Right, we'll be there soldier just watch for the signal."

"We'll look for it alright but don't take too long."

He said as the com went off.

XXXXX

Stacking the explosives to an unfinished hole in the wall of the cavern she set the timer and ran.

"This had better work Wrex."

The demo charges went off, blasting a hole downwards and taking a chunk of the platform, looking over at their handy work, there was now a three meter drop with a part of the wall that came downwards, it was enough to jump on and climb down.

"Let's get to it."

XXXXX

Daniel fried another geth that got to close, that was his fifth in about 45 seconds and her still had plenty more to deal with, Tali and Garrus knocked a few more down as well, but the sheer numbers were far more than what they could dish out fast enough, firing out a grenade from the secondary fire of his MA9A, another three geth were strewn across the floor of the cave.

It wasn't until the wall of the left flank suddenly blew apart, Shepard and her team made their way into the battle, the explosion knocked half a dozen of their feet, and given her enough time to engage in the fire fight.

"Well that's new." Garrus said as he watched Shepard take the advantage.

"Crude but effective, I go to say Shepard, my lethal efficiency must have rubbed of." Daniel joked.

"Let's congratulate her after we destroy these geth." Tali said.

With the two teams the geth was crushed between their rear left and front, as Daniel advanced with his team, the geth began thinning as the relentless amount of fire power seemed to chew them out.

Mopping the last of the geth up, Daniel talked to Shepard.

"Nice work with the explosives."

"You said it yourself, I aim to please." She said while smiling.

"Well good news is we have the doctor secured, though she's more trapped than secured."

"And the bad news is?"

"That was the bad news."

"So how do we get her out of there?" Shepard asked.

"I might have an idea." Tali said.

"And that would be?" Shepard asked.

"We can use the mining laser though I'm good with machines; but there are two things that are supposed to be simultaneously done." She said pointing at the drill.

"Don't worry you've got me." Daniel said.

"Well then it's settled, Daniel and Tali will fix the machine and we just wait." Shepard said.

"Yup, that's as simple as it's going to get." Daniel said as he began helping Tali.

Quickly by passing some of the circuits, Daniel and Tali got the drill running, and then in a few seconds the drill fired, digging into the ground.

"And voila there's your door."

"Let's get going." Shepard said.

Daniel helped Tali down, though as she did, her foot stubbed against an open port, she tripped. Daniel below quickly aimed to catch her, grabbing her before she hit the ground.

"Thanks." She said.

"No problem, just doing my job." Daniel said, he did notice she was holding on to him.

"You might want to let go." He said.

She realised what he meant. "Oh, right, sorry just…"

"Don't worry, I know." He smiled setting the quarian down, he hadn't a problem with Tali, even though years of warfare with the covenant, he still was a person.

If Vinaya was made earlier, she was going to have an overload in about a few seconds.

'She is not getting her hands on my Spartan!' She said to herself.

Continuing on, Daniel was the first to activate the prothean elevator, going up, they got behind the barrier and the doctor.

"Now I'm hallucinating that you are in the tower, I must be getting worse. Earlier, I imagined hearing thunder."

"That was us using the mining laser to bore through the ground and make our way to here."

"And maybe a ton of explosives we used for our own tunnel down here." Wrex added.

"You bore through? Wait you're real, aren't you? By the goddess! You're real. I'm sorry, I thought you were just a hallucination, I thought I was going mad. Please get me out of here before more geth show up."

Walking to panel on the left of barrier, Daniel and Shepard tried to figure out how to get her down, though Shepard had a better idea of things considering the prothean knowledge she obtained.

"Oh." The doctor was getting back up from falling on the ground; she dusted herself off and turned around.

"So any ideas on how we're getting out of here?" Garrus asked.

"There's an elevator in the centre of the tower. At least I think it's an elevator. It should take us out of here. Come on." Liara said as she walked to the centre.

The team followed along as she set the lift to come down.

"I still can't believe all this. Why would the geth come after me? Do you think Benezia is involved?"

"Maybe Saren's search for the conduit led him to you." Daniel said.

"That's what I was thinking." Ashley said.

"The conduit, but I don't know." Liara began thinking to herself.

"Well we should probably get out of…" Shepard was cut off from completing her sentence as the cavern began to suddenly shake.

They all looked around.

"These ruins aren't stable, that mining laser must have triggered a seismic event."

"Or it was the explosives we laid along that supporting wall." Ashley said.

"We'll have to hurry this whole place is caving in."

Daniel reached his communicator.

"Joker we need extraction ASAP."

"Right, LT locking in on your signal. ETA, eight minutes till arrival."

"That's going to be quite a close shave skipper." Daniel said.

"If I die I'm going to kill him." Wrex said as the lift went up.

It didn't take long, but as they reached the top, they were greeted by a squad of geth and a krogan battle master.

"Surrender, or don't. That would be more fun." He said.

"In case you didn't notice this place is falling apart." Shepard said.

"Exhilarating isn't it." Wrex said.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, thanks for getting rid of those energy fields for us, hand the doctor over to me." The battle master said.

Lirara said defiantly. "Whatever you want, you aren't getting it form me."

"She'll stay with us thanks." Daniel said.

"Not an option human, Saren wants her, and he always gets what he wants. Kill them, spare the asari if you…" The battle master, for one thing, did not realise one important thing, Daniel vanished behind the team. And he was now in front of the battle masters face, with a knife in his throat.

"You know, you should pay attention more often." He said, and then kicked the battle master into one geth and pulling out two M6 magnums; he unloaded the two guns into the remaining four troopers and punched the last geth in the optics.

"Remind me never to play hide and seek with you." Garrus said.

"Come on we need to get out now!" Shepard said as she began to run, though as they did the place began crashing over their heads, Daniel could see Tali about to get knocked over by a rock and he covered her with himself and hoisted her into his arms, he ran along with the squad.

The Normandy approached the entrance, though the team just got out as the cave final gave way, panting the team recovered outside.

Tali in Daniels arms, was blushing at how close he was holding her.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Sure, just twice in one day." She said.

"Oh right." He remembered.

This experience was interesting to him, seeing as he usually never saved aliens, though Tali was more or less of that exception, turning to look as the Normandy arrived.

'Guess it's just me.'

XXXXX

Conference room, Normandy

As everyone took to their seats, Joker came over the intercom.

"Too close commander, ten more seconds and the Normandy would have been swimming in molten sulphur." Dot took over the coms.

"As per my suggestion Jeff, we would not have been swimming but sinking in molten sulphur, and…"

"And the fact that the ship would probably not have melted so easily, still doesn't change the fact that our sensors would fry and everyone would probably die Dot, and that's just for future reference LT." Joker said.

Liara asked. "We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?"

"He does deserve a bit of a slap over the head, but he pulled our asses out that fire, so I think he would deserve it, besides he still owes me a drink." Daniel said, reminiscing.

"Real funny Daniel, I told you when we get a chance back on Arcturus."

"Yeah, when next year?" Daniel said.

"Okay so back on topic." Shepard said over the two.

"I am probably assuming this must be a human thing." Liara said.

"I'm grateful to you for saving me back there. Not just form the exploding volcanoes, but from Saren's geth, they probably would have killed me or taken me off to Saren."

Kaiden asked. "What would Saren want with you? Do you know about the conduit?"

Liara explained. "That it was connected to something with the prothean extinction. This is my real area of expertise. I have spent fifty years, figuring out what had happened to them."

Shepard interjected. "I've got my own theory about what happened to the protheans."

"With all due respect commander, I've heard every theory out there. The problem is finding the evidence to support them. The protheans left remarkably little behind. It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. It is like someone came along after the protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues.

But here is the incredible part. According to my findings the protheans were not the first galactic civilisation to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them."

Shepard asked. "If the protheans weren't the first species in the galaxy, then who was?"

"I don't know, there was barely any evidence on the protheans and less on those who came before them. I cannot prove my theory but I know that I am right.

The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilisation rises up; it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive.

The protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the ruins of those who came before.

Their greatest achievements – the mass relays and the citadel – are based on the technology of those who came before them.

And then like all the forgotten civilisations throughout galactic history, the protheans disappeared; I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

Vinaya said in Daniels helmet. "Geez this goes on and on, but hey, the forerunners existed longer, millions of years, and then bam, cataclysm wipes them off the face off the galactic map."

"Wait what?"

"Oh, don't ask, if they ask us, our parallel universe just say it was different, besides I have some records on the galactic history in my databanks just for certain times though, just make sure no one else hears about this, or the hanar are going to start praying to you."

Shepard told Liara of her theory.

"They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines, called the Reapers."

"The… The Reapers, but I never heard of- How do you know all this? What evidence do you have?"

"There was a damaged prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It burned an image into my brain. And I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

"A beacon, yes that makes sense. But the beacons were not programmed to interact with human physiology. I am surprised you were able to make any sense at all, a lesser mind would have been destroyed."

"Well then that's the commander for you." Daniel interjected.

"That's all very cute, Daniel." She said with a smirk.

"With your permission commander I would like to meld our minds, to understand what you had seen."

Vinaya said. "Just like star Trek." Though at this point, she forgot to turn off the external speakers again.

"Okay who was that?" Garrus asked.

Vinaya suddenly uploaded herself into the Normandy internal conference room projector, appearing next to Daniel.

She said, as her holographic form leaned on the chair. "I couldn't help myself."

"Right I forgot to mention to some of you that, I had a second AI, meet Vinaya, the psychopathic AI that is constantly stalking my every move."

"Oh you say it like a burden." She said, with a humorous face.

Tali was about to reach for her shotgun, and remembered, she was a hologram.

"So you didn't decide to tell us about the psycho AI, why?" Garrus said.

"Just to avoid, any further complications, besides Vinaya only sticks with me, she'd never go out of her way unless she finds competition." He said, giving a small hand gesture to Williams.

Vinaya could see Tali not happy at the fact that the AI was hogging Daniel for herself, or more distracting.

"Well now, we wouldn't be jealous now would we?" She said, looking at Tali.

"Vinaya quit it, we don't need any more trouble, and besides it's not like you do anything but instigate."

"Oh well, back to the topic you're wondering about what I might know, well Daniel was ahead on Eden Prime, I had used an external link to the beacon, I possess part of that message and knowledge, though it might take some time to patching it up. And by the way commander, if you're going to meld do it in private."

Then an argument followed, Vinaya defending her action, the crew babbling on about things, and him receiving mail?

Daniel had just been looking through something, when a message popped up, a message from the UNC; it was a beacon, an E-Band UNSC frequency, from the Exodus cluster. A single image came over where he saw a corvette- a covenant corvette…

"VINAYA! I'd rather avoid more issues, but we have some time to get things done, commander I would, like Vinaya said, ask you to do this in probably a more private area, and because a message came through from command, one we need to brief the crew on."

"What is it?"

"A rescue mission and probably the most dangerous one you will ever face."

The crew looked at him, he was now standing up, Vinaya decided to be quiet.

"A beacon from a colony located on the Exodus cluster activated, it was UNSC E-band, and the only person I know who could do that with a broken pelican and a slip-space generator is supposed to be dead."

"Wait how is it that you're so sure?" Shepard asked.

Daniel brought up an image from the colony; a massive ship larger than a dreadnought with an even bigger piece was falling towards the planet.

"That my friend is a covenant corvette, and a third of a super carrier."

The team was shocked.

(Now we move on ahead, but please note the whole talk with the beacon and how Shepard will meld is in the next chapter not this one.)

This is a part of a plot hole which will be filled in the next chapter.

And RVB will be on the chapter later, just waiting a bit longer.


	14. Chapter 13

Dude where's my tank?

(Here is the chapter you've all been waiting for; Jorge is back, and better than ever.)

Normandy: 11:20

Daniel was fidgeting, he was not nervous, but he was anxious. Jorge was alive, he knew it, and so did the crew, he asked Shepard, but she seemed more focused on the asari doctor, rather than Daniel, but she understood.

Now the Normandy was at full speed to the Exodus cluster to a planet called Tyr, a recently developing world, Tyr is under terraforming, though there are some geo-habitable areas that were made earlier, thanks to Daniel, he had placed forwards some ideas that were developed from the UNSC colonies and the technology involved, this was implemented on Tyr.

Now he was sure to find the one person that he knew, Jorge was waiting, and he knew he couldn't keep him waiting for long.

There was only a day before reaching Tyr and if there was covenant the team had to be ready, Daniel was furiously preparing his gear, and the teams gear.

Finishing the updated versions of the MKV shields he installed them on all of their suits, except Wrex, didn't have the upgrades for taking the Covenant on, and this was going to be all out hell, that's if there was Covenant forces still alive.

The weapons cache had now been increased:

DMR-[I]

BR55-A

MA9[C]

SR-[0] Particle rifle

MA-[I] Individual grenade launcher

M5-SSR Rocket Launcher

LAU-SGM-151 Missile pod (Boxy version, and less heavy, more ammo, targets everything, and destroys phantoms, but only 1)

And the other weapons that were on that list that Daniel would go through later.

Vinaya had been busying herself with the new infiltration programs to deal with any locked doors on the Covenant corvette, Shepard had gone to see Liara in private for the meld and Chakwas was getting her medical supplies ready.

The alliance forces were to converge on to the planet, but they could only spare so many, there was three frigates and a standard patrol but they had dropped out of coms when they approached the planet.

There was also a report of a mysterious civilian ship with no ID that had reached the planet, and some more ominous reports of geth activity, this was not good, if geth had their hands on covenant technology, things would go from bad to worse.

Command had sent a fleet to secure the site and the citadel had sent Nihlus back into the field, he personally volunteered for the mission. Now with less time to waste, Daniel geared his weapons and set all necessary things in to motion.

The Mako was also upgraded with new shields and a rocket launcher, and the HEVs were all prepped for a stealth launch.

No one had decided to bother Daniel for this very specific reason; he had turned his very attention into getting a comrade to safety, rather than doing anything else.

Checking all system diagnostics, he heard someone enter. Turning around he saw Tali, she was fidgeting, she seemed nervous.

"Daniel I came to see you, to see if you were doing well."

"I'm fine, until I get Jorge back, that man owes a lot of people their lives and I intend to bring him home."

"Home, home is something my people have searched for years, though home for us now is the migrant fleet, what home is it that you intend on brining your comrade back to?"

"Well for starters, not a covenant wreck, and secondly to the place where we belong."

"And that is?"

"Here, with humanity, and probably outside the war."

"But you're just getting him back into one aren't you?"

"Tali we have different definitions of what we do and who we are, to me home is here on the Normandy, to Jorge it was our planet Reach, and to you the fleet, but it's not the same, we define it as different."

"But what happens when the Normandy is gone?"

"Then I'll be too."

There was a pause.

"So Tali any other reason you're here, either than asking me about homes of course."

"I came to see you, and just you."

"You know Vinaya wouldn't like that."

"Yes I know, but she's an AI, what is she going to do?"

"Maybe I should get an android body and take Daniel for myself, or maybe you should run along." Vinaya appeared she was not in a good mood.

"Hmm, and you should let Daniel decide who he wants to be with."

"Oh so now you come along when I'm not around, to get Daniels attention, because the AI knows him better and much longer than that breather you wear, if I could get my project complete then I would probably kicking your…"

"VINAYA, leave her out of this, and besides, you do have a tendency to suffocate me so how about this, try to use a more positive attitude, rather than lazily wait for someone to come along and then get angry at them."

"What do you mean lazy I'm an AI, I not near lazy and my processors running at maximum, trying to deal with your plan, and I'm keeping storage data on so many other things its running me down."

"Well accept the fact there are others out there."

"Fine, but that won't stop me from trying." Vinaya said and vanished.

"She's not going to be a problem is she?"

"Nope, she's just angry with me for not talking to her sooner."

"Well, I was just wondering if you…"

"Help with your people?"

"How did you…"

"Know? Easy, the codex states your people and your pilgrimage in some detail, and I have noticed that you had and interested attitude in the Normandy's design, more specifically the engines and the technology, but that's classified to only alliance command and is kept in a specially designed safe unit made by Vinaya and Dot."

"Oh, so that means, you can't help?"

"No it just means something's are just too sensitive, but I do have some more unclassified things, like the bio-gel and some other applications, like the holo-projectors."

"What about data on AI?"

"Sadly no one because our AI differs very much, and secondly the UNSC AI was more open in their creation unlike the geth, but I can explain a few things, later."

"Okay, then how about dinner tonight?"

"Wait what… Oh, you mean…"

Tali, was blushing slightly under her helmet, though Daniel didn't even understand what she actually meant.

"Well let's see, umm, I'll finish up here, and meet you in my room at, let's say 18:00."

"Sure that seems fine, never ate at an officers private dining table."

"Well then this should be a first for both of us, I'll make sure the room is sterilized and maybe something for your immune system will be ready there."

Tali left with a wave, Daniel was sure to enjoy the dinner, but this was only to one thing, he did not realize it was a date, and more to the fact that he ate alone, but then again why not have guests.

The door opened again this time it was the asari Liara.

"Lieutenant Daniels is it?"

"Yes that's me, something wrong?"

"No I just came down to see you, to say thank you."

"No problem, it's my job, well my job is technically kill everything that's not human, no offence, but that's also part of my job."

"I had a check-up with Doctor Chakwas, she informed me that I'm a little famished, and I was wondering…"

"Dinner, tonight at my private quarters, it has a table for ten or twelve, if I pack the stuff into one corner of the room."

"Oh that would be wonderful."

"Then I'll see you at six."

Liara walked out of the room.

And then Ashley entered the room.

"Daniel I came down here to see you about tonight… I was kind of wondering."

"Tonight in my room sure, just make sure to be there at six, I'll see what I can do."

"Okay then… see you tonight LT."

She left the room in time for…

"Daniel I was going to ask you, about tonight." Shepard said as she entered.

"My place at six, just make sure to get Joker and Garrus, maybe Wrex as well, I don't have time to call them." He said absently.

"Okay then, see you tonight."

Shepard left.

(What a ladies man)

XXXXX

It's filler time.)

Wash was not having the best moment in his entire life; he had the one and only person to see and that very person… 'CRACK' was pissed.

A table went flying through the window as Tex threw it at Miranda; she really pushed her luck with that comment about how Tex dressed.

Which were a black shirt and work pants, and the cowboy hat, and the brown coat?

"No one says anything about my coat." Tex said as she threw a bottle of whisky at them.

Wash said to Miranda. "Didn't I tell you that she doesn't like people who make fun of Texas?"

"Well I didn't realize wearing a cowboy hat and a brown coat was that much of an issue, besides their tacky, and really…"

"I heard that you bitch." Tex was now standing with a very familiar weapon, the SPNKR.

"Oh son of a bit..."

XXXXX

Tucker was having another shitty day, the half and over was 15.5 credit per shift today for the damn checkout guys and he was having to sweep the floors for another 3 hours just to equal the same rate, this was bull, if they hadn't removed Thomas then this would never have happened.

"Peter, who's on the next shift?"

"Not me man, I think its Dom then Mickey."

"Oh man, why isn't it my shift yet?"

Peter shrugged.

He sat back into digging his feet in the film of water of the deck.

"This sucks."

XXXXX

Doc was having the next worse time of the day, the same issue relating to a man who thinks he has a tumor when it's a bipolar induced by fumes from a damn vat full of chemicals the asari use, he had no idea why the man was even there.

"Look sir, just go to the damn mental health clinic down road, you've been here for three hours, and there is a health clinic just thirty seconds down the road."

"No I'm safe here I'd rather not go outside."

Doc sighed this was going to take a while for him to psycho analyze this wreck.

XXXXX

(Back to story)

Normandy: Daniels room: 18:00

Tali arrived first, she was so nervous, Daniel had invited her for dinner, she had taken the herbs and medication, Daniel was going to make her something, and the fact that he finished making that immune booster for her people.

Going to the door she realized that she was not alone, the entire team was there, including Wrex? And she was just in the middle of checking her suit, Liara was there and Ash, and Shepard herself.

The door opened to let them all in.

Though they didn't get far, the team was stunned at the sight, or more what was in sight.

There was a room, larger than Shepard's own by 2.5 times, there was computers lining the back wall at the far end and Daniels single bed not far from them, but there was so many things, the walls along the right was covered in papers and documents, some on paper and some on data pads, there was just no end.

And then his private study and library was sitting next to door, it had models of everything, weapons, suits, ships, armor, and tech.

Along the right there was a window looking into space, with plenty seats that ran along it, and next to that was an armor case or five, and then next to that a fridge, which led to a small kitchen, and there was Daniel who had set out a table for 12, and was preparing dinner.

The place was large, though when they walked in it was emphasized as they looked behind themselves; there was a wardrobe that spanned the entire wall, though each part was labeled.

Daniel greeted them. "Welcome, come in come in, I just finished cooking dinner, and Tali the booster is ready."

She maneuvered her way over to Daniels seat, and sat down, the table was dark grey stainless steel it had more than enough space for everyone.

Daniel went about finalizing their dishes.

"So who wants some MREs?"

They looked at him.

"Just kidding, the soup should be ready, and the Varren barbeque, just got to wait another five minutes." He said as he moved to the table with dishes, and plates, knives and forks were set down haphazardly and the paper towel boxes between them.

He went along to Tali and gave her the immune booster, and set down a prescription paper for her to read.

The team conversed; they enjoyed the idea of Daniels cooking.

And this was proven to be very interesting; he set down some steak for, Liara, Kaiden, Ashley, and Shepard, Joker received a special treat of a burger with fries.

"An honest-to-god dead cow for once, not like those vat grown." He said as he picked it up.

Daniel came back with Garrus's dinner, nice smelling soup with dextro protein meat and a few other things, while Tali had a rich mixture of some dextro protein soup and vegetables, Daniel hadn't wasted anytime on getting things aboard, or researching how to cook, that and that was because of Vinaya.

(Longer story)

"Bon appetite, and enjoy Wrex." He said as he set the cooked varren.

Shepard was curious. "Daniel, when did you learn to cook?"

"Just about five months ago, the alliance test included some areas of hospitality and creative works, but I choose hospitality, it pays to know what to look for and what to get, as well as how to prepare food and it is something that helps with..." He pointed to Vinaya's private project stored in a locker by the wall.

"Right, where is Vinaya?" Ashley asked.

"She's down in the computer room with Dot, preparing the last details of programming for the mission."

"It shouldn't take long."

"So how's the food?" He asked.

"Good I got to say Daniel." Garrus said as he munched down a bit of meat.

Wrex was not so subtle. "This is a definite feast, and I like the way you stuffed this." He said gulping down another piece of varren.

"Easy Wrex, you'll put us off our food." Shepard remarked.

"Well, I'm enjoying this." Joker said, as he took another bite out his burger.

Liara was the most etiquette of them all, simply taking and average amount and consistent bite from her steak, though she did have trouble with the bone.

Tali was the most interesting though, she had been careful to hide her face when she took the mask off, her features were hidden, and all they could see would probably be her eyes, they reflected the light around enough so that they could see they lightly glowed.

The dinner continued, with Wrex telling a story about something he did to a batarian and a gas tank, and then it was everyone else who talked about each other.

Liara shared her vision of the meld with Shepard, and Kaiden talked about how he ended up with Jenkins in the alliance, Chakwas came in as well, when she heard the party.

And now a Serrice ice brandy was being passed about, while Garrus grabbed a dextro beer from his private cooler outside, everyone was bonding closer together.

"So how about some old war stories from Daniel here?" Ashley asked.

"I don't think you're going to like them."

"Why just not good in front of an audience." Shepard teased.

"No because they're classified, well to public knowledge anyway."

"Then tell us about one mission that is public knowledge."

"Fine, I guess there isn't much harm, though I'll say this, it was in memory of my team. It all started on Reach…"

The fall of reach was known by practically every military force in UNSC space sooner or later, so why not tell them, and he did. They learnt about how the Spartans came to be and how the war had so drastically exhausted humanity to breaking point, yet there was still hope, enough to pull mankind through, and he was the one to deliver it.

The hours passed, he told them of Noble, and how they did things, and who they were.

Wrex commented on Emile. "I'd liked to have fought him; he seems more than enough of a challenge."

Daniel went on to talk about how the mission to bring down the super carrier went, with Jorge assumed dead at the end.

"Sacrifice is necessary, but to give up everything and continue for most of your life it's just amazing and sad, it seems more like you turned all the things you had in to a reason to fight." Chakwas said.

Tali was in agreement seeing as he would have given his life to save his people which he nearly did, but he had lived for them as well, which was something that Tali could reflect upon the fleet. She had some liking to Daniel and the fact alone that he was willing to die and willing to live was enough to convince her that he was always going to be there.

Then the end when he would have died, he saw there was still hope, maybe for himself.

23:25

The team headed to bed, they enjoyed the war story Daniel had shared, most had probably never known someone who had lived such a life, but then again Jorge was coming back, and the team was determined to help.

'Make it count…' Jorge said. Daniel was going to make it count.

Though all of the occupants had not left, Tali was still around helping Daniel, though he really didn't need her help, she insisted.

"So aren't you going to get some rest before the mission?" He asked her.

"I've already prepared and the core doesn't need me, besides I've still got you."

"What do you mean?"

"You've given me time to think things through Daniel, and it made me wonder if you… could spend some time with me, maybe later."

"Wait your asking me out on a date?"

"No just wanted to get to know you better, that's it."

"Well if we get free time after the mission we'll go someplace nice, but that depends if the commander will let us, and also because I still can't make up my mind."

"Make your mind on what?"

"Years of fighting aliens has caused me some issues as you know, and I'm trying to be as open minded with you, I want us to be together, but something's are dragging me down, and I can't decide." He said with frustration.

"Well then you should just wait, there isn't a need to rush things, and I know you're going to be fine to kame that decision, I'd just say wait, when the time is right."

"Alright then, I'll wait and see, but if you're so sure about being with me, then I'd advise you to look out for Vinaya."

"Right, her, she wouldn't try anything would she?"

"Maybe or maybe not, but still keep an eye out for anything strange."

Tali departed the room, with a wave.

XXXXX

Over Tyr 36hrs ago

A white flash of unstable light, and a massive shockwave of energy and a ship of no human or any council species arrives; it is followed by a massive piece of another ship in similar design, the two pieces fall to the planet.

Jorge could feel the world return to him.

'What happened?' He thought.

The ship was blurry and he could see some faint images, it began to suddenly shape and form, he found that he was still on the covenant corvette, but the planet below was not Reach.

Grabbing his helmet he put it back on.

"Well looks like it won't be today." He said as the planet came into view.

The ship was out of control, power was still there, but the slip-space bomb completely destabilized the ship, and now it was falling planet side, Jorge was going to wait until they were closer before he began his descent.

Upon entering the atmosphere, the ship began to accelerate, but thankfully the engineers on board repaired enough systems to slow the ships descent.

From a flying meteor the ship cooled down, but not slowed enough to stop it from crashing hard into the planet's surface.

Jorge could see everything within range, the grassy open plains and beautiful view, his suit told him there was a breathable or just barely breathable amount of air.

He timed his jump, 150000ft and then 140000 and then down to 100000ft, he jumped, the air suddenly rushing around him, the orbital descent pack activated, slowing him down as much as it could.

He targeted an open plain just north, it looked like a small city, with mountains nearby, it came into view, there were some walls with a type of low field generators and the houses were boxy, the people below were probably wondering what was going on.

Well, the Spartan was on the ground… now.

(Romance is not yet here, just waiting, it's still building.)

(Jorge is back)


	15. Chapter 14

I love you to buddy…

This is also has an explanation to the previous chapter.

Things in this chapter are slightly slower, as we catch up with Jorge.

(RVB)

Wash was now more than ever sure to get his ass handed to him, he was being beaten in the face by a damn twiggy stick, and this was physically impossible, except for Tex.

Three consecutive smacks across the face followed by a pummelling and Wash were just about done.

The day had not ended well, Miranda was in a room locked inside, and Jacob was stuck between the beams of the roof, which was technically worse because of the fans, and Wash himself was stuck facing Tex off.

"Well shit…" He said as she cracked her knuckles.

XXXXX

Outside the bar

Donut was showing Veetor how to ride a warthog, or drive one, he purchased the car from an alliance dealership on Elysium and they agreed to send one over, it seemed that Daniel implemented some older forms of travel, but the warthog was a classic, especially since it used hydrogen and a more subtle steering mechanism, it was not going out of fashion soon.

Going around the town they arrived at the local pub, they were here for two things, one was that Donut wanted to get something to celebrate their success and second was that the shops were nearby.

Veetor was going to send some stuff back to the flotilla and a message for Kenn who was at the shop with three other employees.

Business was booming out here in the agricultural region, and Veetor and Donut were both sure to be a hit with their new harvesters.

Donut walked into the bar, and suddenly Wash went flying into the table next to him.

"Hey, agent Washington wasn't it, what're you doing here, coming for the morning hour…" Donut never finished because he ducked as a bottle came flying at him head; his baseball skill served him well.

"Look who's here, Donut, let me guess you own the V&D Harvester Corp don't you?"

"Yeah, it's going great, just finishing up on some new things."

"Oh, well if you have the time could you send something over to my ranch?"

"Sure, where is it?"

"Umm, down Miller road to the small outcropping."

"Okay I'll send the next one there in like five days."

"Okay thanks."

"Sure, where's bartender?"

"He's taking a break." She said pointing at the door that said 'Private'.

"Oh well, better go to the shops, see you around."

"See ya." She said.

"Now where were we?" She said looking down at Wash.

"Fuck me…" He cried.

(That's all folks)

XXXXX

Tyr 28hrs earlier

Planetary impact was one of the things Jorge had learnt about, though was told never to go beyond the necessary limits, his armour was enough of that limit and his weapons and whatever he needed, though he was just as sure to risk it even with or without specific gear.

Now was that time…

The world was a lot bigger than Jorge imagined, he landed a full ten clicks south west to the city, water met him first before the ground, he was soaked but his armour was given a nice cleaning, he was in a small lake not far from the city or the mountains.

Climbing out he staggered a bit trying to get some sense of balance, his head was hurting from the sudden transition into normal space.

The bomb went off right in his eyes, though he cleared the area a few seconds after setting it manually, he managed to duck behind a column and wait as the hangar was lit, then after a few seconds of energy consuming him, he blacked out.

Now wearily he was wandering about the forests looking for the city, his helmet was intact as well as his gear, though all he had was a pistol and a few remaining grenades he was still determined to reach help.

Lugging his way across the lake bed he made his way to the forests that covered the region and proceeded to the city in the distance.

XXXXX

Tyr

0900hrs

The Normandy came on to the scene, there the world of Tyr was, a world not to dissimilar from Earth and capable of sustaining life, Daniel knew about Tyr, he had personally set himself the task of terraforming the world with a breathable atmosphere, the terraforming plans from the UNSC helped a lot.

The world had over 5million inhabitants and 2million of which are alien and rest are human, but Tyr was a work in progress, and the oxygen atmosphere was still settling in, it is advised to use some re-breathers in higher or lower areas.

But overall the world was healthy, Daniel focused on one specific point, a city called Pire went out of communication over a day ago.

Down in the hangar the team prepared for the drop. Daniel was setting his gear into the HEV and the rest were going in the shuttle, he was being accompanied by Garrus and Tali, who had both now been selected as permanent members of his team, Kaiden was the shuttle pilot and Ashley and Wrex were with Shepard.

"So the plan is simple we hit the ground hard and fast." He said.

"Simple enough, and probably the most straight forward, I like the way you think." Wrex said, hefting a rocket launcher on to his shoulder.

"Well none of us should be careless, our suits now have shields and proper ones to deal with the covenant, though be advised, there are going to be a lot of them, even if that corvette and part of that super carrier went down, there are nearly a few thousand of them to deal with."

"So then how do we deal with all those troops?" Shepard asked.

Daniel drew up a large map, and Dot materialized to brief them.

"Troops to the south of the city will be dealt with by orbital fire, and to the north where the corvette landed will be bombed for a short time span by alliance forces to provide a distraction. We will insert into the west near the mountains and the river, this will allow us to build a forward operations base for the fleet, the Normandy will set itself down there and deploy the Mako. While Shepard's team secures the landing zone, Daniel will insert with and infiltrate the wrecked vessel."

Dot finished, and another map appeared.

"We have two primary objectives, the landing zone, and the corvette, though to the landing zone we have little problems, but there are strange signatures, most likely covenant patrols. To the corvette the highest concentrations of all, sixty percent of their forces are located there." Daniel said.

"And how do we deal with sixty percent?" Ashley asked.

"Simple, we plant this." He said pulling up an image of a small but very obvious device.

"Something we need to use to remove the covenant corvette."

"A nuke, you're kidding me, a tactical nuke?" Garrus said in disbelief.

"It is only to be used as a necessity, don't worry, if the Covenant overwhelm us of there is enemy forces and they secure it, we blow the ship to hell."

"And what enemy forces are you exactly talking about?"

"This enemy faction is the one I'm talking about." He said pulling an image of a Cerberus vessel.

"Cerberus, the all human and only human organisation capable of pulling the resources out to send their own military force, these guys are not a rogue unit from the alliance, but a secret and most dangerous group, I'd rather not let them get their hands of Covenant tech because of what they'll do once they have it."

"And that would be?" Liara asked.

"By putting humanity as the dominant power in the galaxy, I'd rather not be having to deal with Cerberus seeing as they are more than just an organisation, they are more or less like terrorists and don't give a damn over who gets killed, so that is the reason why we should allow them anything."

The team nodded, this was understandable, and most of them knew now who their enemies were.

"Now for the covenant forces that we will be dealing with." He said, pulling a holographic image of the covenant elite.

"This is an elite, a large reptilian like and mostly cold blooded being you'll ever face, they are the most dedicated to the destruction of those who do not believe in their religion, and will mercilessly kill you, women children without a second thought."

"Sounds like a challenge." Ashley stated.

Another image appeared, this time of a large ape like alien.

"This is a brute, not much to say about them, there dangerous at close combat and lethal in large packs, they hunt like the elites but do not show as much honour in killing or death."

"That's my kind of species." Wrex said.

A bigger alien appeared, one with spikes lining its back, and small cannon mounted on its arm and a shield on the other.

"Hunters, the most to be feared about, these are walking tanks, they take more punishment than all these two others combined, and they keep together in pairs, be careful hunters are not the fastest but have just as good reflexes when it comes to hitting back."

"We better go in well prepared then." Kaiden said looking at the image.

A small alien walking on its knuckles appeared, and an avian like alien.

"These are the cannon fodders and patrol units of the covenant, grunts are the small cannon fodders and the slightly taller ones are called jackals, they are the two largest factions in the covenant forces, grunts are easy but they can overwhelm in large numbers, but be caution they can become suicide units or heavy weapons teams.

Jackals are not so easy, they can hide and run, and they are expert marksmen so keep an eye out for snipers, they provide the scouting and advanced force for the covenant, they are also pirates and mercenaries, but look only to get paid, so once they realize there's no pay they'll probably surrender and leave."

"Great, if we have relations with them, guesses would be on how to get beaks and feathers, or probably hourly pay rates." Garrus said jokingly.

The image turned to a pink and multi coloured alien, they kind of looked like a hanar but possessed more tentacles and had a head, not to mention the bumpy body.

"These aliens are called the engineers, mostly unknown to us; they are simply super computers capable of fixing weapons to building star-ship as big as the citadel, which I might add they probably could, these aliens are the most interesting as they have no affiliation to the covenant except for being engineers. And they are the non-hostile, but they do possess the ability to reinforce the other factions with body combat shields."

And finally vehicles, which changed the teams opinion when they saw what passed off as a tank.

"This is the covenant vehicles and aircraft."

The first image came on the screen, a beetle like tank.

"The Wraith, a large mortar capable of firing large plasma blast to cover a house, they do have gunners and drivers, remember that, they are slow but have boosters installed for extra speed to a battle field."

A red like vehicle much longer appeared but lacked size.

"The next vehicle is a slimmer version called a Revenant, capable of firing a similar burst but smaller one, this vehicle is able to wreck a lot of people's days, designed specifically for fast attacks and holding certain areas, the Revenant is something to be wary about."

And then a small winged bike.

"A ghost the main vehicle of covenant forces, these are fast and nimble, they can cause a lot of problems, especially for ground troops, and provide the light assistance to their own forces, mostly grunts and elites drive, but brutes will be seen on them every so often."

And then appeared a four legged walker, it had a mounted cannon and plated legs.

"This my friends is a covenant Locust, a smaller version to their assault platforms, these moving pulse lasers are capable of ripping through buildings and are specifically designed to destroy them, they are shielded so it would require my missile pod to remove just one, and the Mako would never stand up to one toe to toe, the sheer fire power alone would cut through the shields and melt us."

"Then how about we try and avoid that one." Garrus said.

"Yeah or we could try to kill it." Wrex said interested in the destructive vehicle.

"How about… NO." Shepard said.

"Killjoy" Wrex said.

Another vehicle appeared this one with a turret and side fins and a cockpit.

"Okay next vehicle is called a spectre…"

"Wait what?"

"Yes a vehicle exists that is called a spectre, it is a light transport vehicle and is capable of burst as well, but limited, it carries two passengers and a gunner and one driver."

"Hmm it's not that great in my opinion." Ashley said.

The next image turned things a bit more interesting, a larger version of the walker appeared, this one over 10times the size and probably more in fire power.

"This is the Scarab, the meanest walker to have ever come into existence, and the most dangerous, it does have vulnerabilities and specific weal points but these are not something you should ever go against, they carry their own troop compliment and AA weapons and a super beam capable of ripping through entire cities."

"Ouch, that does not look good." Garrus said watching the small video attached.

"Well hopefully we won't have to risk trying to bring one of these things down." Shepard said.

"Now aircraft types the covenant use."

An image of a large U shaped vehicle appeared.

"This is called a spirit drop-ship an infantry deployment type of ship, meant for troop placement and patrols."

And the next image was a winged machine, though it had the signature look like the covenant it looked more or less like a bird.

"This is the banshee, capable of launching an all-out assault to a scouting mission; these are the main fliers of the covenant forces, they are relatively weak and fly like a rock, but are fast and able to dodge small missiles so your best bet would probably being a chain gun and a lot of ammo."

Next up was the phantom. A large drop-ship capable of carrying a wraith or a scout team of ghosts, it was large much larger than the shuttle and seemed to carry a lot more.

"Meet the phantom gunship, or a rather heavily armed drop-ship, these phantoms deploy two squads or more of covenant forces and can carry heavy payloads, so keep an eye and an ear for them, because if they spot you, they'll drop a squad on your head."

"We'll keep that in mind." Shepard said.

And now finally, the Seraph, the only ship that had the team most confused. The ship was shaped as a tear drop and was coloured purple, the ship seemed to have one rear engine and composed mostly of the inside and outside.

"This is the seraph fighter, capable of short range jumps and long ranged combat, these are the most troubling of the air force, they have shield and ships that can take a beating, unless you have 40mm cannons or AA turrets."

"They don't seem so tough."

"Wait till you get on the ground."

"That's all." Daniel said.

At this point they were ready for the drop, prepping their gear and setting up for planetary insertion, the team didn't realise how things were about to go.

0930

Drop point one

The Normandy released its compliment as HEVs rained down followed by the shuttle, the alliance forces fleet in orbit began their own deployment as dozens of small fighters and drop-ships went planet side.

XXXXX

Tyr: Pire: 24hrs earlier

Upon entering the city walls Jorge found himself facing a stampede, the people were running over the entire city, panic had come over most of the population as the covenant forces began to overwhelm the local forces.

Jorge himself was rushing over the crowds, but he noticed something, there were a lot of different people, some mixed in different clothes and such. But something caught his eyes, a few aliens were amongst the crowd, this came as a bit of a shock and a surprise considering how long he'd been fighting the covenant.

Making his way through the city, he headed to the battle up in the north districts.

XXXXX

0945

Alpha rally point

The HEVs made contact with the ground, and the team popped out.

Daniels feet hit the ground; it was in a grassy open plain not far from the city, he began looking about, the surrounding area was clear and the site seemed fairly well, but the view of the city was different. The crashed ship had left a scar to the north and the wreckage of the super carrier left the area looking more like a battlefield, the city itself was that of new Alexandria, the small city towers and blocks now set alight, the sky was choked with smoke and ash.

Joining Garrus and Tali at the city entrance, he found nothing more than the doors blown apart by powerful plasma cannons, the entire district was abandoned except the remains of the innocent and the rats.

Moving along they reached a street that led to the centre of the city, and most likely the safest, down the road they found a barricade made of blocks and rubble, it seemed as though the colonists marked their areas, though he hadn't been surprised, people try anything to keep others out.

Making their way around they came across a shop that was destroyed, it led to the other side but something seemed wrong.

"Garrus wait." Daniel said to the turian.

He looked about at the ground; he noticed something had been changed, the ground was metal plated but one thing caught his eye, a metal plate was loose, careful not to press down he lifted the plate up and not to his surprise a homemade mine.

"Damn, my sensors never even picked that up." Garrus said.

"That's because it's been sealed inside a lead composite and wrapped in aluminium, this is also a composition of unstable liquids, something like nitro-glycerine but stronger and a pressure trigger, smart."

"Who could have made something like this?" Tali asked.

"Probably by someone who decided to cover his tracks, it's more or less smart but I have no doubt Jorge was here." Daniel said.

"Wait how do you know?" Garrus asked.

Pulling the cloth carefully from the container of the trap it revealed a small piece of letters and a bird of prey 'UNSC'.

"So that means he went through here."

"Not long ago I'd say." He pointed to a partially visible footprint in the ground.

XXXXX

20hrs ago

Jorge was just ten blocks north and heading south fast, the covenant were demolishing the human forces and militia, already the north was lost to the covenant as they began to push, thankfully the soldiers were building a defence to the south of the city near the centre.

Jorge was heading there right now; he had found himself cutting corners though, patrols were moving south as the covenant began to take control, but even they couldn't take the whole city in a day.

The defenders had given them more trouble with some heavier vehicles coming to support the wary troops, but still it wasn't going to be enough to stop the covenant that long.

Hoping that help came along for these people Jorge was helping in some ways either than shooting at this point, he had gathered some survivors from the north and helping them escape to safety.

A young man named Shawn and a team of law enforcement were moving as fast as they could the city was burning and gunfire still rang about, being as cautious they made their way to a small shop not far from the centre.

"So what do we do?" Shawn asked.

"We hold here for a while, these people need rest." He said gesturing to the civilians.

"Well we better not wait too long those aliens aren't so stupid, we might want to cover our tracks, what might you suggest?"

"A mine, probably one someone wouldn't detect."

"Well then you're in luck. Craig." He called.

A lanky teen with messy brown hair and with black overalls and vest and gloves with black sunglasses appeared.

"You need something?"

"A mine, if you may." Jorge said.

"Well let's see what I have, two cases of nitro-glycerine from the pharm and some homemade insulators, I could make something to hold the stuff but the temperature from my body would set this stuff off, you wouldn't happen to have some cloth or something do you?" He asked.

"Sure, just wait, I left it somewhere in my pocket, inside a small area Jorge removed a cloth or rag, he had only used it to clean his guns but since losing…

'CRASH'

A mortar had struck the shop, top level, it seemed the covenant was targeting south, but they decided to bomb rather than take the area.

"Let's move." He said.

Craig was sealing the makeshift bomb as they left and place a metal plate over it.

The mortar fire began to concentrate as they ran to safety, being quiet was not an option Jorge ran and picked some of the younger civilians on to his shoulder.

The centre was in sight, a large building, but more cube like in construction it provided better protection as it was shielded by some towers and skyscrapers to the north, the occupants and survivors were gathering there.

The people flocked from all around, and Jorge could see the panic, the complex doors were open but there was too many people trying to get in.

"Hold it, we'll never get through this, we need to move around, or someplace else."

"And where exactly would that be?"

"Maybe and underground entrance or the maintenance area would be a safe area." Shawn said, pointing to a door just at a public entrance terminal.

"Well I guess that works." Craig said.

The survivors headed down.

XXXXX

DATA SEQ.1 COMPLETE NEXT 2


	16. Chapter 15

Guess who?

BIG VOTE A THE BOTTOM!  
WE NEED YOUR HELP DECIDING THE STORY, BUT JUST READ FIRST BEFORE DECIDING

(RVB)

Wash was finally able to relax, though it was in a bed with bandages, he was next to Miranda with a bump on her head, and Jacob who was not as bad.

"So are you going to consider my offer?" He asked.

"Why should I help you? You have a team and a means of getting there and the experience as a recover agent and you can't get that done?"

"Well let's just say breaking into bases or secure facilities is not in my dossier."

"And Cerberus is willing to pay a lot to get this done."

"You know I can see why no one likes you guys, to direct, like your trying to hide the fact you're a terrorist organisation, besides you guys tried to have tests done on me while at the facility."

"That was done by a different cell, and they didn't know what to do, either than try and see what they could learn."

"Well not anymore."

"Look this artefact is vital, and whatever the collectors want it for, it can't be good for us."

"Look I don't know…"

She mulled the things over in her head, it was like SECIII over again and the F1Project, but this was more than just a bit of money and a shadowy handshake.

She asked.

"How much did you say again?"

XXXXX

Veetor was having an interesting day, Donut managed to get everything done in a simple order, except for the special occasion wine, but the groceries were done, and Veetor was happy to have helped the Migrant fleet with some resources.

"So where next?"

"How about back to the workshop, then some dinner, I've got some protein paste and some new stuff to add in, we'll try maybe teriyaki?"

Things were going to be a lot longer than Veetor expected.

XXXXX

Church had escaped and so had his boss, but he got his wallet back, and the asari spectre had now commandeered him, or specifically what he knew.

"So are you going to tell me what she was hiding or not?" Tela Vasir asked.

"I keep telling you I was an accountant, not her broker."

"Then what transactions did she make between her and the blue suns?"

"What the blue suns are involved?"

"Yes and all the transactions were made past you, so you should know."

He thought things through; the constant hounding from his boss was to hurry up the preparation for this whole escapade.

"Now that you mention it there was something in there."

"Like what?"

"Some transfers to a place called Trident, some water like world; she was sending some resources their way, something to do with water."

"Well then looks like you're going to help me."

"What, look I just got caught up in this mess, I didn't start it."

She pulled her pistol to his head.

"Whether you like it or not doesn't matter, this needs to be dealt with, and I will force you to help one way or another."

'Damn, she's just like Tex, but with biotic powers.'

"Fine damn it, I'll see what I can do."

He turned the car to the space port.

XXXXX

Doc was heading to the medical institute; he had received an invitation by a friend who worked there.

Walking in, he realised who that very friend of his was.

"Hi Doc, welcome to the Terra Nova institute, my name is Michael Jay Caboose, and I'll be your boss."

"That's Dufframe, and Caboose how are you even talking to me?"

"Oh not really a mystery, they tested some new memory enhancement on me and now I can remember more than an entire life time, which is good considering that my pay was not as good in development."

"So wait you're my boss?"

"No just your employer and kind of like your evaluator for the position at the institute."

"Well, crap."

He was going to have a long day, but hey if he had a shot at Batha it was worth it.

XXXXX

Citadel: Wards: Midnight Blue

Sister was closing down, she had a good night, and the place was at least a lot better than last week.

She had over a few extra thousand credits and she was planning for her short vacation to Elysium.

"Well I guess next week."

She had another week to go.

XXXXX

Tucker was having an awesome time in the flight simulator, he had re-enlisted as a marine, and was now getting ready for his service, but this was thanks to the forged history and ID he received from Church before they all split ways.

"So Chuck when do we go on service?"

"Next month, just need to redo all things such as piloting skills, and then vehicle, then combat training."

Tucker smiled, he had a surprise in store for them.

XXXXX

Lopez was at it again.

The damn boss wanted some kind of report of a mysterious incident over some planet called Tyr and he wanted it done ASAP.

Lopez was quietly planning to rebel one of these days, and Saren was not going to like it.

"Lopez, what did I ask you to do five minutes ago?"

"Let's see, clean the floor, mop the bathroom, check the geth, feed the husks, and clean the dishes."

"Well, did you do it?"

"Yes."

"Then get back to work, we need to know what these pathetic creatures plan to do against me."

(Spanish) "FUCK YOU…"

XXXXX

0950

Rally point Bravo

Shepard checked her sights, the city was burning and there wasn't much to look at, it reminded her of the tragedy of her colony on Mindoir, though the pirates didn't devastate colonies like the covenant did or burn the city or simply keep slaughtering.

She was with the insertion team on the outskirts of the city, there was no patrols outside the city limits, which was a change in the covenant tactic, she watched as lights moved about, search teams of covenant were scouring their area of the city.

Right now she and the alliance troops were preparing to take the city back, but there was a delay, the forces that arrived were insufficient to retake the city, and the alliance would sent the 5th fleet as soon as possible, which was in 24hrs.

Till then the frigates and the Normandy were holding their ground until help arrives, but Shepard had other plans, the civilians need escape or supply routes, the only which can be seen in two place, to the west and east. Here was the west and the east was open country, but both had problems, the east route was to open for attacks and the west, was covered by search teams.

The only thing that could punch a hole through the lines would be a lot more troops than just two platoons and three small tanks. The covenant had set up Wraiths positioned to face the entrance areas and set traps along the route, so the plan for west was too dangerous.

"There must be a way." She said to no one.

"Maybe I might have the solution." Nihlus said as he walked from his ship, he wore the same black armour but with specific enhancements, he looked a lot better.

Shepard smiled. "Nihlus, how have you been?"

"Good considering Saren's geth nearly killed me, but hey, I'm better now."

"So what is it you were saying?" Shepard asked.

"Well we could just use the HEVs to drop us in; it might solve the problem of reaching them." He chuckled.

"You… wait that's brilliant." She said.

"What the drop us in HEVs and help on their end plan?" He asked, confused.

"No we could drop supplies in, or support, Daniel still has all the gear he needs to remove the covenant on the Normandy." She said.

"Joker we need some things set for a HEV in 30 minutes."

XXXXX

20hrs ago

Jorge had helped the survivors to the facility by entering the lower tunnels and cut across the mob of people, they were inside and safe, for now…

"Sir, when do you think, support's coming?" Craig asked.

"Soon don't worry; I'm sure they'll be here soon." Jorge was wiring in a signal amplifier to help boost his E-band ID to hopefully reach some one.

Stepping down from his handy work he manoeuvred his bulk around people to reach the command group or whoever was in charge.

Finding his way to a security officer he asked.

"Who's in charge here?"

The man was surprised at Jorge's sheer height and said.

"Captain Virana, but she's part of the detachment for the security of the complex, she's probably the one you'd talk to, there isn't any remaining officers beside herself, she's on the third floor up."

"Alright, thanks." He said before making his way to the lift.

Upon arriving at the command room of the complex, or the security room, he was greeted by two guards.

"What business do you have with the captain?" One guard asked.

"I need to see her about the base, and the covenant."

"Covenant, what are you talking about?"

"The other aliens that are attacking us, I know how to deal with them."

"Look buddy I can't let you in, the captain said…"

"Just let him in!" She shouted through the door.

"Well looks like I have an invitation." He said.

They let him through, where he saw the back of a woman, or the fleshy like hair that was blue.

She wasn't human, Jorge was uneasy to see there were other aliens in the room; he was twitchy but not unrestrainable.

The alien faced him, she looked very human like, but he had other priorities first.

"So you must be captain Virana?"

"Yes I am, the only officer here with the most seniority and training, but I never thought I'd be using it since this was a research base."

"Well things can change, when you least expect it."

"You have that right, Mr?"

"Just call me Jorge."

"Right then Jorge, why have you decided to come see me in a time of urgency?"

"I know who were facing and I know their tactics, we can't leave, because they're stuck here, and the fact that they're confused."

"How do you know?" The captain asked.

"Covenant tactics are usually straight forwards, but this is a mix, there seems to be some confusion, and they aren't blowing us to pieces with plasma mortars so, that means they have no idea or else they would have overrun us a while ago."

"And what makes you think they aren't soon?"

"Because they haven't sent in the cannon fodder yet, or their kill teams or search teams anywhere near here."

"Then why are they waiting?"

"That's the question."

XXXXX

1005hrs

Daniel and the others reached the complex, it was sealed off, the doors were barricaded and the place completely picketed by snipers.

Daniel was in luck though; there was an open door to a maintenance room, following along they arrived at the basement of the complex, going up to a door that said G1 access, they pushed the door open to face a dozen armed guards.

"I guess this is the wrong door." Daniel said.

"Hold your fire they aren't covenant." A deeper voice said.

And out behind the guards came Jorge who smiled at the sight of Daniel.

"Six, you're alive." He greeted his comrade with a back snapping hug.

"Good to see you as well." He said.

"How did you get here?"

"It isn't hard to follow a trail of bodies you know."

"Well I do what I do."

The asari captain approached.

"Stand aside. Who is this?" She asked.

"Just a good soldier and one fine Spartan."

"Daniel 312, special tactics and recon."

"You're a spectre?"

"Yes ma'am."

Jorge was confused. "Wait you have a name?"

"That was classified, but decided to start a new life."

"Right so why are you named after a covenant vehicle?"

"No that's the name for the special operation agents who work for the council."

"Okay just fill me in later."

Daniel put his hand out to return something.

"You said to make it count."

Jorge picked it back up.

"Yeah I did, did you?"

"I made it, and so did you, but the others…"

"No tell me later, not now we have people to shelter." He said putting his tags back on.

"Right, so who's your friend?" Daniel asked.

"Captain Virana T'alra, she's part of security team for the base."

"So you're okay?" He asked.

"A little hesitant but I got used to it, besides she's more like my kind of woman." The two laughed it off.

"Well you better enjoy the time you have now, we have a mission."

"And what would that be?"

"Securing that covenant corvette, and kicking the crap out of the covenant while we do it." He said grinning.

"Well let's get ready." Jorge said.

Tali and Garrus watched as Jorge left to gather his things, Tali asked.

"Is he always this nice?"

"Yeah if you know him well enough he respects the individual, but he's not exactly used to aliens that are friendly."

"Well at least he hasn't decided to pummel me yet." Garrus said.

"Just be glad he doesn't have his GM, it was usually to shoot first with it, then ask questions."

They moved along into the complex, the walls were covered in plain white while the floor was black marble, though they could see the base was crowded, thousands had taken to shelter inside, the corridor to the centre of the base was a squeeze for the team.

Upon reaching the centre, a lift arrived with a medical stretcher a young boy was being moved with plasma burns to the south section for medical treatment. Daniel had seen what plasma could do and the charred skin from kids who survive, this was nothing new, Tali and Garrus were not exactly so used to it though.

Reaching the command centre, they found Jorge with the captain; a younger guard was reporting something.

The asari captain faced them.

"We have good news; your reinforcements are outside the city, but they can't push in, they have to wait for the others to arrive, which will be in another twenty hours. But the commander in charge said she'll be dropping supplies to us by HEV in a few minutes, but we need a signal flare."

He knew what Shepard was planning.

"Right, I'd better get to the roof, I have signal flares to pin point the drop for us, and then the Normandy will send an atmospheric re-entry pod filled with supplies."

Daniel handed Tali a data pad and pressed down on what they needed.

"Okay then, I'll tell the observation team to keep an eye out."

"Then I better come to." Jorge said.

They went up the lift to the roof followed by Tali and Garrus.

In the lift, Jorge asked.

"So who's the girl?"

Daniel was surprised Jorge would even ask.

"Who, you mean Tali?"

"Come on, you stay close to her and she seems rather close to you doesn't she?"

"She is not, my girlfriend."

"I never said it was, but thanks for the hint."

"Damn it."

They arrived on the roof, Daniel went around placing flares.

From the hill where Shepard and the others were, they could see the faint coloured smoke; she activated the LD for the drop.

In orbit Dot confirmed the position and launched the modified re-entry capsule.

It was a thing to see a shooting star, but to see a glowing object head towards you at high speeds is another thing, especially if it's glowing.

Daniel waited with Jorge as their package arrived, a super sonic boom followed in its wake as it finally descended to their location.

Daniel moved as the package finally arrived, floating down on a parachute the capsule landed safely on to the platform.

"So I guess that's your new toys?"

"Yeah that's them alright." Daniel said opening the pod.

A crate of MREs, ammo, water, medical necessities, and the new gear all that Daniel and the necessities for the people.

The base guards began moving the supplies down, while Daniel and Jorge began unloading the gear with Tali and Garrus.

Down inside the base, things were at an improvement slightly, all basic necessities were being met, Jorge was at least happier to know that these people would live, after they remove the covenant.

Down in their own part of the base, Daniel and Jorge unpacked their gear, unloading the necessary things including weapons.

Jorge hefted the box marked AIE-MG301, laying the box down on the ground he began to open it up.

"That's something special for you." Daniel said, as Jorge opened the case.

(This is a mix of weapons from the H3-Killzone 1 think large but sleek in design but crazy awesome, not to crazy)

Inside the box, there was a very good looking gun, lifting the weapon out, a tri barrelled chain gun with a rocket launcher attached, and gas operated, steel jacket 9.5mm x 3.5mm, mass accelerator and a full pack of ammo and integrated heat sinks.

"Now this is something more to my taste." Jorge said.

"Thought you might like it, it was on special." Daniel said grinning.

The chain gun did not look bulky the design Daniel used was for the assault rifle and modified the nozzle region of the chain gun, the rocket launcher was something he took from the attached arms use of the MA9A, this was his masterpiece.

Jorge looking at the rocket attachment said.

"Oh, you shouldn't have."

"It was something that I knew you'd want."

Spinning the gun barrels, Jorge smiled.

"Now this is something for a big man."

XXXXX

1800

Shepard and her team along with Nihlus and the alliance troops began a slow descent form their positions and waited along the entrance to the wrecked city.

Shepard sent a message through, though the atmosphere was a mess, she managed a signal to Daniel.

"Daniel what is your status?"

"Fine, though we have found survivors the Covenant have secured the northern half of the city, and were not that far from that line, anything happen on your end?"

"No we're holding just outside, and we have confirmed that the alliance has called for assistance on the matter help will not arrive for another 13 hours."

"Don't worry, we will continue on the mission, when the reinforcements arrive and civilians are safe."

"Acknowledged, keep tight Daniel."

XXXXX

Northern district, Covenant Base

Cerberus has always looked for out for the best for humanity, they shaped the way in which all humans live, but they also dealt with threats, from humanity and for the sake of their future.

Daniels first arrival on the Citadel was in need of investigation but led them to a failure, this was backed by the fact that Miranda infiltrating the academy to get to Daniel which he kindly turned down their offer, even the operative on the Normandy was found before he even managed to get through the doorway, Daniel decided to throw him into a locker and sealed it shut.

Now with the Intel from command coming through, the Illusive Man wanted the Covenant dealt with and all significant techs removed and taken to secure locations, so that they could use it against their enemies.

Though this was a high risk, the Covenant has many troops and most can take more than a beating from them, so they had to be cautious, the other fact was the lieutenant himself was overseeing the destruction of the Covenant on the planet.

Sending a commercial heavy freighter, the Cerberus teams made their way down to the planet and deployed at the far east of the city and then to push in with mechs and gunships, this was half a failure, the covenant was not ignorant in setting up across the city, a plasma battery tore apart their air support.

Now with only the mechs and themselves, the Cerberus teams decided for a small strike force, but from what Daniel gave in his report to the council it was near suicide without numbers or heavy support.

But the Illusive Man wanted results.

The Cerberus teams were now within striking distance and closing fast, but something had seemed off, the streets were empty and only the hovering gunships and platforms seemed to be the only things they have seen.

This changed as they got closer and closer to the covenant base.

XXXXX

Geth platform number 3779 was watching closely as they made their way through the ruins of the human city, the prophet wanted this done as soon as possible, Nazara willed it so.

Now reaching the covenant wreck, they found themselves at a conundrum of a situation; the organic alien species called the covenant had discovered their presence and was attacking them.

Now with themselves noticed they began deployment of heavier units, armature walkers moved in an advance pattern through the streets but were greeted by a four legged alien walker.

The armature fired its main energy blast but the shields seemed to with stand them, the walker appeared with more, but they came crawling over the tops of buildings, the situation turned bad or worse.

The purple machines with four legs aimed their projectors, and then a beam of concentrated energy lanced out at the geth.

3779 observed for a microsecond before being hit by the beam, it melted in a second, along with the other geth the walkers began systematically annihilating them, the beams had no means of stopping them seeing as the geth had never developed energy shields, the armature was hit by all the beams at once, it turned into a pile of molten circuits.

XXXXX

The Cerberus operatives witnessed the complete destruction of the geth in seconds, the sheer power alone of the walkers made them consider how fortunate they were.

Now waiting for support, the operatives decided better to wait for a better time rather than being slaughtered.

XXXXX

Tyr in orbit

-DATE UNKNOWN TIME-

Serina watched as the Spirit of Fire came over a green and blue world, the only place so similar was earth, but she had never been there.

She had just awoken when a subspace signal arrived from this very world.

It was UNSC.

"Captain something has happened."

Cutter arrived on the bridge.

"What is it?" He asked, tired from the last year of travel through space.

"We have arrived at a signal from a UNSC transponder."

"It's on the planet?"

"Yes, though I cannot verify who it is, the signal is distorted by EM waves, and high radiation, I am picking up multiple signals and readings from the planet, we have covenant."

Cutter never thought he'd ever see the day.

"Bring the crew out of cryo stasis, and get red team prepped and ready, we need to identify which signal that is."

"Aye sir, should I give them a warm welcome that we made the trip?"

"Not yet, not yet."

(There will be an explanation to the ship later in the other chapter.) Just enjoy them being there.

VOTE

We go to the action with Daniel as he and Jorge prepare to hit hard and fast or to Shepard as she and her team begins for imminent contact with the covenant

Cerberus should we have a more active scene as they join the fight or battle their prize over with Daniel and the alliance

Should the Illusive Man be involved more as in should he send in his private army?

The Spirit of Fire, shall we send in the Spartans with a warm welcome, or should the hell jumpers go in with fire

Daniel and Tali, how far should we go with relations?

Jorge should he have a romance?

Should Serina have a romance? (OC involved.)


	17. Chapter 16

Must have been something you said…

Due to certain complaints the RVB character filler in the story will be removed ASAP, and they will have their own chapters in between the breaks, think 1 in 5 chapters.

There is now a new story available on my profile [Age of Ascension] [ME1]

This is everything that happens after Revelations, hope you guys enjoy.

There is also: The First Contact War: IVI (In the time between Age of revelation and ME1)

This will be for all who submitted characters and such; this is a mini story combination of all.

They will be back later.

FUBAR [IT HITS THE FAN]

Tyr 0900hrs the next morning

Alpha

Daniel and Jorge had been catching up during the night, they talked about the mission to save Reach and how Noble no longer existed, it was a bit of a shock for Jorge, but it seemed to bring many peaceful thoughts, they were both alive, and well.

Daniel had afterwards gone to check on his gear before the morning operations, he was going to need a lot of ammo, checking in with Garrus and Tali he found that they were okay and were ready to leave when he was.

The time now was 0900 and support had arrived, all they team had to do was wait.

Down in the lobby Daniel and Jorge finalised everything, Tali and Garrus were awake to help, they packed all their ammo clips and spare gear away.

There wasn't much to talk about; Daniel was checking the grenades he brought when the asari captain arrived.

"Lieutenant Daniels I wish to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I would like to accompany you on your mission."

Daniel was not as surprised but he wasn't sure.

"Aren't you needed here?"

"I have done all I can, and service in security is not one of the most exciting things to do, besides I was looking for a career change." She said with a grin.

Daniel turned to ask Jorge.

"Jorge you wouldn't mind if the captain joined us would you?"

Jorge was not as responsive, and knew what Daniel was trying to imply.

"Sure, but make sure she has the right gear."

Daniel turned back to the captain and said.

"He's okay with you, but your gear is in need of an upgrade, there is some remaining armour in the case I brought along. Just get suited into it, and check the power cells they might not be as charged as I hoped."

"Thank you." She said and went for the case Daniel pointed to.

XXXXX

Outskirts of Pire

0800 Bravo rally point

Shepard was happy to see the arrival of the reinforcements, the alliance frigates and a cruiser set an outpost outside the city limits, they deployed most of their forces, there was more than sufficient troops ready to take the city.

The forces consisted of marines and a number of council species that came along, they ranged from asari commandos to salarian STG. Though not as much in number they made up for in fire power, all the new upgrades Daniel had developed for the alliance were being used for the marines, this was more of a field test but all it was interesting to see how they fare.

All the other species were also being fitted with alliance gear, MA9A seemed heavy at first but the sheer firepower and capabilities made up for this, and rocket launchers and grenade launchers were also being fitted.

Now armed and ready Shepard waited for Daniel to signal them.

XXXXX

0915

Daniel counted to the last seconds, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

Firing the signal flare it gave a clear message to Shepard and the waiting forces outside the city limits.

In a few seconds a whine of missiles came down, but something was off, the sound seemed different, Daniel watched the sky to see HEVs, striking into the city with a thunderous crash the pods made contact with the ground.

'Who are those?' He thought as he watched them descend.

Daniel then head the attack from outside as mass accelerator shells began hitting the northern districts.

XXXXX

Shepard also noticed the landing pods, she was wondering if the Normandy had sent them.

"Joker, where did those HEVs come from?"

A little bit of fuzziness in the response. "Commander there's a frigging dreadnaught up here, largest thing I've seen, Dot explained it some kind of refit of a colony ship, UNSC vessel."

Shepard had heard the story from Daniel of the UNSC she could expect them to be at least capable of talking and being reasonable people.

"Joker get in contact with that ship, I'll alert Daniel."

"Right, we go talk to the massive ship and make nice." He said sarcastically.

XXXXX

(This is the SOF which has no idea what time it is okay)

-DATE TIME UNKNOWN-

Cutter watched as Red Team and the ODST were launched, they'd make ground contact any minute.

Watching the view of the bridge he brought the ship around to provide support.

"Captain I'm picking up a UNSC IFF close by, wait, a ship is un-cloaking off our starboard side, five thousand meters, its hailing us sir." Serina said.

"Open up a com channel." He said.

"UNSC Spirit of Fire, this is SSV Normandy, we are friendly, we would like you to assist in the situation, there are civilian persons on the ground and two Spartans, and we are currently under orders to help in rescue of the colony of Tyr and removal of Covenant forces."

Cutter didn't know of any named UNSC vessel by Normandy and this was a stealth ship using covenant cloaking, rather ONI or someone in fleet decided to produce new vessels.

"This is UNSC Spirit of Fire, we acknowledge message and have already sent our forces to ground, SSV Normandy what is the situation?"

"The situation is a crashed covenant corvette and a part of a super carrier went down over the colony of Tyr the city of Pire is currently under attack, we would like your assistance in dealing with covenant forces and recovery of civilian population."

Cutter was unsure as how to react but the most logical answer came to his head.

"Acknowledged Normandy, we will begin our operations, a question has come to mind but what is the recognition code you possess?"

A pause until…

"Recognition code is SSV N-SR1V1, UNSC AI Dot will transfer all vital data on scenario, and please we advise that population consists of different species, if you can just target Covenant, not any other alien civilians."

Cutter paused when the Normandy mentioned of alien civilians.

"Repeat non-human civilians?" He asked.

"Yes there are a number of non-human civilians, please we advise caution to any civilians in the city."

"Acknowledged Normandy, we will advise our troops." Cutter said.

"So, we're now helping aliens kill each other. Am i the only one confused?" Serina joked darkly.

The whole situation seemed slightly mixed, Cutter was figuring out what to do with non-humans.

"Serina, alert the ODST teams, non-human civilians, target only covenant, unless fired upon."

"Right, sir, message is away."

XXXXX

If there was ever a more welcome sight, it would be the Spartans, but that depends on who their trying to kill.

Daniel and Jorge with Garrus and Tali, had left the complex for Shepard and the marines to take, they were heading for the Covenant corvette to plant the warhead. Though they did notice the HEVs that landed were not far from where they were.

Jogging along the broken and blackened road, they headed to the crash site, Jorge heaved the chain gun in front with ease, in the distance they could hear intense fighting, it was probably the ODSTs, and at the first intersection near the crash the team noticed something.

On the left road there was a geth armature in a very sorry state, this came as a bit of a surprise and warning.

"Get down." He said as he ducked at knee height.

Looking back at the remains he could see other pieces of geth forces scattered along the entire street length.

The others peaked out to see the remains of the geth forces.

"What could do that to an entire geth strike force?" Garrus asked.

The burns across the walls of the buildings and melted road were obvious enough to Daniel and Jorge.

"We've got locusts, and from the remains, there must be at least an assault force."

Daniel didn't have much time to sit around; the covenant walkers were more than likely to be sitting in a hangar idly rusting away.

"Let's keep moving; the covenant crash site isn't far." He said.

The team continued their approach.

XXXXX

Bravo- 0945

Shepard and the allied forces were now within the city; they had advanced as fast as they could and had met some resistance.

"Kaiden we both use pull at the same time on my mark." Shepard flared her biotic powers alongside Kaiden.

"Mark." They both lashed out with dark aura, the elites that were in cover panicked as they were lifted up into the air by unknown forces.

The troops picked the elites off, and continued to press into the city against the Covenant forces, Shepard had enough of this constant fighting already, the covenant kept swarming in on her position, and they could only keep going.

The alliance marines were not faring any better, the shields could only hold out against so much plasma.

Another explosion from a fuel rod on the other side of the field knocked Shepard and her team to the ground, the covenant forces weren't letting this be easy.

Something caught Shepard's attention, a large figure in white armour and a glowing sword just appeared, its eyes just materialised as though out of nowhere.

Shepard couldn't build enough energy to throw the elite spec ops back in time.

Until a sniper round went through the elite's skull, the purple blood and bone and brain matter splattered against the ground, and waving at the marines was an ODST with a black and white skull.

"So, did we miss the fight?" The hell jumper asked.

XXXXX

Crash site

Daniel was with the team closer than ever to the corvette, but there were a few problems along the path they needed to take, there were snipers and a large walking platform between them and the success of the mission.

Tali said. "Daniel how are we going to get across, the snipers on the roof alone is a problem, and I doubt we have enough fire power for the scarab."

This was a good question, though considering the consequences to trying, it wasn't until he heard the faint sound of a whistle and rumbling, the whistle became much deeper. Looking at the sky they could see a fire bolt coming down and fast, and in a split second Daniel yelled. "DUCK"

They hit the ground just in time, an explosion that could be seen from orbit had occurred, and something shot that fast and that accurately was most likely a MAC.

Daniel was either unsure if it was the Normandy or…

"This is Spirit of Fire to Alpha team, we have cleared the path for you, and Red team is already on approach to the crash, be advised synthetic signatures are within the area." A feminine voice said.

Jorge was confused. 'Spirit of Fire, Red team that means…'

"Daniel, we might need to rush things." Jorge said.

"Why, we can't rush them, and they still have troops inside the ship, it would take a lot more than four of us." Daniel said.

"Actually I think I should point this out, but considering there are three old friends we might need to meet and they seem eager." Jorge said with a small smile.

Daniel never knew Jorge for the 'rush hour' kind of person, but if he was rearing to get inside the ship to meet someone, it had to be worth something.

"Fine we'll get going, but on my mark, we make for the base then terminate everything in our way to that corvette, me and Garrus will have point, Tali stick close to Jorge." And with the wave of his hand the team readied to get going.

As the smoke cleared from the MAC blast the team could see the sheer extent of the actual damage, the front platforms that were placed over both ends of the street that followed to the site was gone, and the scarab platform was nothing more than an orange crater in the floor.

Though visibly the entire street seemed empty, Daniel didn't like rushing to fast ahead, at times when he knew his enemies actions, but these were elites not some walking tin can or retarded merc or hit man.

With his hand he motioned forwards, he and Garrus would go first and then followed by Tali and Jorge.

Making their way across the ruined street they inched ever closer to the corvette and one step closer to fate.

XXXXX

[Cerberus] Crash site

The strike team had not been having the best of luck, they were stuck behind some cover being shot at by tall squid faced aliens, the team sent the LOKI units in hopefully to thin them out, but the aliens appeared with energy swords and sliced them apart like paper.

The team was forced to use more heavier gear, a YMIR was running rampant with 4 others, but still this wasn't enough, the team found themselves cornered and without a full means of getting in, and things were getting worse.

"Damn it do something, we won't last any longer here." The team leader said.

"I'm trying to get the door unlocked, but the damn difference in tech makes it nearly impossible for us to crack."

Just then the door opened to reveal a small alien they recognised from their briefing, the grunt simply screamed and ran.

"Well looks like we found our ticket in, come on fall inside, double time." The Cerberus team leader said as he ran in.

They had no idea where they were going.

XXXXX

Northern District, Pire

Shepard was now lucky enough to meet some of Daniels allies, the UNSC ODST, the marines were surprised to find any other humans around, and the fact that they could see other species, Shepard had to step in more than once to stop them accidently shooting someone.

Her current position was not far from Daniel, and she was quickly catching up with him, though the covenant was putting up more of a fight than she had expected.

"Frag out." An ODST yelled.

An explosion followed and body bits landed not far from her, the day was not getting any better for alliance and UNSC forces, and then again it wasn't getting worse.

Shepard had been sure that things would have been relatively slow, but the fact that the combined forces were nearly at the corvette meant the covenant was thinning and fast.

"Let's move, Kaiden, Ash follow me, you marines clear a path." She said as they began to move.

"That's sergeant Tanning, not marine, lady." The ODST yelled back as they followed up.

XXXXX

Crash site, lower hangar

Climbing through the once operational energy field of the hangar doors, Alpha team made their way up, Daniel was still at point with Garrus, Jorge and Tali follow close behind. The all too familiar sight of a covenant ship, the once hanging platforms were now on the ground in a few dozen large pieces, the organic like structure that had seamless and smooth walls were gone, burned and shattered.

The ship didn't look like it had before, it was much more of a wreck, but as the team made their way to the centre of the ship they noticed something. The large pelican drop-ship, green and forever bulky, Daniel was happier to see this piece of junk than most shuttles.

"Jorge come on, we should check if we can't use this for a quick escape." Daniel said moving towards the damaged pelican.

"Daniel I said it before, the pelican was beyond repair, and I doubt the slip-space bomb did any good for it." He said as they went around.

The damage seemed superficial, until they went to the back itself, if Daniel had seen a Sabre go up against anything but a seraph; the result was most likely to be what he could see. The rear of the pelican was melted to the floor and the makeshift bomb was no longer there, if Jorge had been standing anywhere closer than 5meters of the engine, he'd been welded to the hangar floor.

"That doesn't look like it's going anywhere." Garrus said.

"I've seen lots of ships on the flotilla, but I have to agree with Garrus on this, the ship is well beyond scrap." Tali said as she looked closer to the remaining rear.

"Okay then, if we can stop with the now obvious damage, we should probably move." Daniel said, partially disappointed at the fact that the pelican could have been of use.

Stepping over the wreckage, the team headed to the engine room, or somewhere close.

Pushing back some doors they came across the hallway Daniel and Jorge came through before, but if Daniel was sure, there was a wounded marine who survived the battle, it kind of made him wonder whatever… Daniel paused to look at the very person he was just thinking about, he was dead, and in three neat pieces on the floor.

"Elites look out!" Daniel shouted.

The team ducked under whatever cover was available, this was done just in time considering a grenade came flying into their midst a few seconds later. Jorge activated his armour lock and blocked the blast.

But even after the blast the elites pressed, they seemed determined to resist the team.

Needler rounds pinged of the walls as they pressed, and concussion rounds pelted the cover the team was in, Daniel and Jorge knew that pressing now was a bad idea. Staying in cover they waited for the elites to stop.

As soon as they ceased, Daniel peaked over the cover, the elites had scattered around the length of the room, and of course the sheer size made it nearly impossible to find them, circular and large with more than 2 floors.

Things weren't as bad but this might be tricky.

"Jorge keep an eye out, they might have cloaking fields." Daniel said, he was going to draw them out of hiding.

"Okay, Garrus keep an eye out for their shots."

Daniel stepped out, and took aim; things here were not going to be as simple.

Priming a grenade he just looked for the most likely spots, that or the white armour sticking out.

XXXXX

[Cerberus]Ship interior

The team was successful in reaching the interior of the ship, now navigating their to the power source of the ship the team found themselves with many obstacles, gathering intelligence along the way the team was unsure as to where they were.

"Sir, there is movement just up ahead, it's near the core, I would advise caution." The scientist said.

"I couldn't care less, we lost more than half of us trying to get in here, the Illusive Man can have my corpse, but I won't sacrifice my men for a damn engine." The commander said angrily.

Moving down the purple corridor the team arrive at the door, though the doors were broken the team could still move them.

Cautiously spreading the doors open the team searched the room before entering.

"The core is just right ahead, less than fifty meters."

They continued until.

A supressed hiss from an energy sword, or the clanking of armour plates, the team turned about.

They never had a chance to scream.

An energy sword came down on the head of one soldier; it split him from head to toe.

Firing into the elites the Cerberus team was quickly dispatched, the scientists ran for their lives, the Cerberus soldiers decided to keep discipline and continue to fight.

Though there was one problem, the two hunters that were standing down in the corner.

There really isn't much to tell, the elites sliced and diced, and the hunters flattened them, by the time it had ended, everyone was technically dead.

Though one scientist managed to escape, she didn't have much chance against the engineer standing guard.

XXXXX

To you all:

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will continue ASAP, but in the mean time

1. Would you like me to continue the story as we progress to the end?

2. Should we have RVB filler just so I don't have to exhaust myself for a few days?

[RVB] We may continue with a longer story for the red and blue teams as the plot now unfolds, this means Church's flashback, Tex's imprisonment and breakout, Tucker and the alliance, Caboose and Doc going to the next best thing (Caboose will be back to normal very soon), Wash and his plot to help Cerberus, and the Reds heading for their destination. (All for you to decide)


	18. RVB 1

This is just a test for the RVB things

Welcome to our separate chapter; tell me if this is better than the shorts on the story or if I should try something else

XXXXX

Six months earlier

Somewhere out in space, there is nothing but a vacuum, and sometimes in this vacuum there is life, not exactly in the vacuum but probably in between, well the most interesting thing is that in space no one can here you- "SON OF A BITCH"… scream.

And now we go to the world we know.

The camera flying towards the most peculiar of worlds, it is called 'Longing', put a bit more effort on the 'G'. And on this planet of green and blue and some areas of yellow and red, we arrive at a particular canyon inside of an interesting Cerberus base.

"Johnny, get down here!" A bitchy face said.

"What is it Katie; I got more important things to do." He yelled back.

"How about get your sorry ass down here before I come up there." She said.

"Fine, I'll be down in a minute." Johnny said annoyed.

This was the usual routine, get yelled at, hate everything, and do nothing more than get a long lecture by the ice queen of the damn base, then again it beats being the beta tester, those poor guys don't tend to last very long.

Walking down the ramp of the base he came face to face with Katie.

"So what's got your panties in a bunch?" He droned lazily.

A crack from Kats fist was enough to shut him up.

"Don't start that crap with me Johnny, who activated the beacon, the Illusive Man is going to kill us if he finds out that someone was stupid enough to screw with…"

"Wait the beacon is active?"

"That's what I just said, someone went down the base and activated the secure system, and the thing is glowing blue."

A rumble and shaking of the ground and then a mysterious almighty crash, the two quickly ran down the hallway to the lower levels.

"Man I hate Mondays." He said.

"Well I do to so shut up and hurry."

The two arrived at the basement or what could be probably called a lab, or den, or a very large garage. But the principle remains the same, just shove crap in there and walk away, now with them crawling in to the mess, Johnny could hear a bit of a commotion.

"Grif get off of me!" A gruff southern accent said.

"No how about you get off of me?" Another voice more feminine, but more demanding said.

"Tex I can't feel anything between my legs, could you…" "THWACK" Was all the two heard.

Moving around the room they finally found the source of the arguments, a dozen bodies cluttered together or maybe more.

They turned around to see the two Cerberus operatives looking at them.

"HI" A pink one said.

XXXXX

Now on Trident, some city on the east coast off of somewhere… I don't know… who the hell narrated this? Joey where's the map? (Indistinguishable talk) Okay, so we are somewhere near the capital of Trident.

Present time

Trident the most wonderful of places and the wet, rain poured from the sky as it usually did, blue coloured building and white with some black, the city lights glimmered all around Church.

He had been hijacked and now he was somewhere he didn't want to be, a busy city he had no idea about with an asari chick that had a bad temper, if his luck was bad then this was worse.

"God, does it ever stop raining?" He said to no one.

"Well how about you actually help, and this might be over quicker." Tela said as she stepped out of the shuttle.

"Fine but I keep telling you I don't have experience in dealing with spectres only ghosts and maybe spirits, but not spectres."

Walking inside the building that Tela pointed out, they were greeted by an old friend.

"…..Cough cough, cough… damn cigarettes."

XXXXX

Arcturus station

1week before the attack on Eden Prime

Service day, the day that Tucker had been waiting for almost 6 months, he could finally get off the damn station and get going to somewhere at least worthwhile.

He was being assigned to a ship called Caldera; it was arriving in the port in five hours, as to elaborate what exactly Tucker did to get in service.

In their first encounter with Cerberus, Tucker did something with a Cerberus operative; he will never talk about it again.

Today was a pleasant day, kicking ass in CQB and combat training, he sliced apart everyone with his awesome sword skills. Then there was piloting and the other courses, he kicked everyone in most of the tests, but Joker showed him over during piloting, and Daniel proved a better rifleman and marksman, Tucker had a bit to prove himself on.

But heck he was happy; there was nothing that was going to make him regret joining the marines.

-1Week later-

"F****** ******* ***** ********** ************* ************** ******* *****"

He yelled but an explosion drowned out his scream.

A deployment order for him came to go to Tyr a few days later, and now he was on Tyr with Daniel and all of the other guys who seemed to be nowhere in sight.

"Tucker, shut up." Jacob Taylor said, he was annoyed at the fact that they were being pinned on the left flank, geth reinforcements had arrived and there was no air support yet.

Tucker looked back to the field as the geth approached, he had at least calmed enough to return fire and keep alive, his DMR unloaded another round taking the shields of a drone down.

But to his dismay he could hear something coming, and his suspicions were correct, a large 4 legged walker suddenly appeared stomping towards them.

This was going to be a very long day.

XXXXX

En route to Tyr

Caboose and Doc were in the lab of a ship en route to Tyr, an urgent message came through about a major incident and the alliance needed someone crazy enough to do the job. Sadly Caboose had not entirely understood the mission parameters and just accepted.

Doc was now either sure that he was going to die following this idiot or survive and live to tell his kids, if he had any.

"Caboose, are you sure about this?" Doc asked nervously.

"Don't worry; I know what to do…" Caboose paused for an extended period of time.

"Umm Caboose, are you there?" Doc asked.

"Umm, I think my vitamins are wearing off… I like me." Caboose said absently.

"That's not good." Doc was now sure than ever he was boned.

XXXXXX

Somewhere not far from, where in the hell they were

Red team

If there ever was the largest group of morons in the galaxy it would have to be red team, though Simmons wasn't as bad, but he had not balls or the simple skill of leadership to take command, but hey they at least made the jump.

Now floating through space, the team began their approach to the distant world of Horizon, or at least they assumed it was Horizon.

Beginning to descend ever closer and closer and… wait is that… "CRACK"

*BEEP* "Don't break the fourth wall."

"That's a bit too late for that." Red team said.

"Well just great, now I have to replace my freaking camera." Narrator said.

Switching to camera 2

Ahem, now our hero's… WTF am I talking about, our incompetent morons now arrive at the small place called Den Shaw town where they will look for.

"Donut, you're still alive." Simmons said.

Donut coming to greet them replied. (If you're wondering Donut is the only one wearing the pink F*** quarian suit.)

"Yeah it's good to see you guys as well." He said in a cheery tone.

"Donut, we need your help." Sarge said.

"What why now, we just go the shop set up and the people love us, I mean I'm earning fifteen thousand credits per sale, and that is on a normal day, and then the Thursday sale…"

"Donut we need to find Tex, she might be being tricked for some stupid suicide mission." Simmons said.

"Oh, well you guys are kinda late; she took off in a Cerberus shuttle three chapters ago."

'HEY WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT THE FOUTH WALL?'

"Come on let's just go, can't stand this place anyway."

XXXXX

Well that is all for now but we will be back later.

So options for RVB yay

Should I let Tex get captured and red team with blue go and rescue her later?

Tucker, should he survive his sucky life?

What about Caboose and poor Doc?

Where is Veetor?

What about my camera?


	19. Chapter 17

Road trip!

(To my readers the engineer thing was a joke… it was meant to just be there, not really a purpose and yes it was a joke on Cerberus as well)

VOTE AT THE BOTTOM VI!

WE NEED YOUR VOTES!

Well without further ado we move on, and all those who voted for the RVB self-chapters it's coming next.

BTW very depressed lately, parents and home, not usually a good mix for me

XXXXX

Alpha Team, covenant corvette

A high pitched whine echoed across the room, it stop when it struck something, and then an audible roar was heard, and then a bright explosion from the unfortunate elite. Though the pause didn't last long, another wave of plasma bolts came at the team.

"Well that got their attention." Garrus said firing at the hidden elites.

The shooting went on for about three seconds; Jorge went up with his chain-gun and in one awesome wave of bullet spray managed to chew apart everything not pinned to the floor.

"Jorge I think that's enough." Daniel yelled.

The MG stopped abruptly so the team could assess the damage, though there wasn't much left to assess, if there ever was such things as a proverbial 'shit hit the fan' it would be the very sight Daniel was looking at, the elites were no more, practically blood stains and bits and pieces strewn over the length of the entire room was all anyone could see.

"Well looks like my skills were a waste." Garrus said.

"Don't worry there's still plenty more to deal with." Daniel replied.

There is one thing a Spartan should never do, especially inside of an enemy vessel, and that was relax, Daniel and Jorge were both sure that everything in plain sight was dead, but that didn't mean that someone wasn't still capable of shooting back.

An elite that had somehow managed to withstand a good part of the barrage was clutching his broken torso, he could still see the humans in his sight, grabbing a fallen comrades needler rifle he took aim, any of his enemies would do, though he pointed his rifle at the most vulnerable.

Tali and the others stepped out to begin moving on, it wasn't until that a guttural roar from a corpse that stopped the team, an elite that was nearly dead appeared and took aim, it had Tali in its sight, Tali froze as well as the others, Jorge wouldn't be fast enough, and the others were just walking in.

A rapid flash of pink lights, she knew she would never make it to cover or out of the way of the shots.

But it never came; she felt something impact her from behind.

Tali watched as Daniel had intervened just in time; the rounds bounced clean off his shields, but the hail of fire sent his shields to zero and a round punched his armour. Grunting with some effort he pushed both of them out of range.

The elite failing in its attempted assassination was greeted by Garrus's sniper and Jorge's MG, both blew the elite apart at the same time.

"Daniel, are you alright?" Jorge turned to look at his fellow Spartan, but was greeted by an unpleasant sight.

Tali, was crouched next to Daniel who was lying face down, had taken three needler rounds into this back.

"Daniel." Jorge said as he approached his wounded comrade.

Virana was applying some bio-gel to the wounds, Jorge carefully flipped Daniel upside, his face was in partial pain, but he seemed conscious, blinking into focus he asked.

"We really should pump them full of lead before moving shouldn't we?" He joked, he was still in pain.

"Right, but you should keep down; you've taken more than enough of a beating."

"Hey Tali, are you alright?" Daniel asked turning to face her.

Tali, was crying inside her helmet, but she hid it well.

"I'm fine Daniel, thank you, but please hold on; you still have me to be with." She said sobbing.

"I don't know why I just saved you, maybe because I was told never to leave a person behind, or maybe because you still show promise in your eyes… I guess I'll never know." Daniel was straining to stay aware, after a few seconds he slipped into unconsciousness.

Tali was about to burst into tears, but she knew he'll only live if they completed the mission and got him back it would be worth it.

A sudden burst of radio chatter from Jorge's com shook them out of their solemn pause.

"Red team to Alpha, do you copy?"

Jorge replied.

"This is Alpha."

"Right Alpha we're at the insertion point and moving to your position, what's your status?"

"Lieutenant Daniel is down, and the arming codes are here with the bomb, it is unlikely we can make a sufficient escape with wounded."

"Acknowledged Alpha, we have noticed a point of interest, a few UNSC vessels of unknown description are still intact above your position, we will rendezvous at that position, and plant the bomb there."

The com beeped off, Jorge turned to the team.

"We need to move and fast, it isn't going to be hard or easy, but we just need to get Daniel to the landing pad of the ship, it seems some of our fighters survived the transition from slip-space, Garrus and I will clear a path to the fighters, Virana and Tali will get Daniel behind us."

Tali standing up, was now determined to get Daniel back ASAP, the others picked their weapons and began their desperate trek to save a friend.

Virana had never seen a man like Daniel solidify all the team's strength at once, she herself felt obligated to helping the soldier now more than ever.

Tali and Virana picked Daniel up arm by arm, but the sheer weight of his armour and body weighed down on the two, thankfully Daniel had Vinaya still inside his head, she reactivated some neural signals to adjust his motor functions the weight of his body was still heavy but more manageable.

Moving through the corridors they began their climb to the top, very few things would stand between Spartans, especially Jorge. Clearing a corridor they found an ascending ramp, and now moving at a light jog they quickly and efficiently made their way up.

XXXXX

Bravo rally point

Shepard had just arrived with most of the strike force, but they were still off from the covenant crash site by another 5km.

Most of the alliance and UNSC troops along with the turian forces and allies, were all occupied on the two flanks and weren't capable of a quick arrival.

Shepard had also received a report from the Spirit that Daniel was down, her heart was about to freeze the moment that they told her the bad news, but she hadn't had the time for a heart attack, if Daniel and the others were going for the extraction it would be more than a problem.

Shepard was now waiting as the timer ran down for the teams to escape the ship.

XXXXX

The rush of combat didn't even slow for Tali or Virana, they didn't have enough time to even take a look, the purple hallways went past fast, there was also the notable corpses strewn across the grounds as far as Tali could see.

Reaching the landing pad, the team piled outside to only be greeted by a very odd looking fighter, well that is of course for Tali and Virana, not Jorge.

"Sabres are still here, but where…"

'Clank'

Red team appeared from their hiding spots, Jorge didn't need to point his rifle at any, but Garrus was the only one that red team was focused on.

Guns raised they were standing off.

"Wait, Jerome, Alice, Douglas?" Jorge asked he could see the armour insignias of the red team.

"Jorge, how are you here?" Red team asked.

"I should ask you the same thing, but we don't have the time or the leisure to do so, we have a Spartan down and a bomb to plant, Garrus here is on our side."

The three Spartan-IIs had always learnt to trust each other on decisions, and what Jorge said was true, they lowered their weapons down, but it didn't seem to put Garrus at ease.

"Vinaya, can you set the charge times?" Jorge asked.

"Right, how long do you need?" She said calmly, she only did this because Daniel needed to be saved.

"Fifteen minutes, just to be safe, the sabres may not be in the best of conditions." Jorge said walking to one.

The team began quickly overviewing the controls and flight switches of each fighter, Red team had no issues with their sabres or on how to pilot, the neural implants helped accelerate their processing speed.

The four sabres were ready to leave in a few minutes.

"Right, Vinaya set the charge now, we're leaving, notify the commander that we will clear the blast zone, all personnel are to clear the blast zone." He said climbing into the pilot seat.

Tali, was in a fighter as a pilot, though she had some difficulties understanding the difference in technology here. Garrus was gunner seeing he couldn't fly a fighter as much as he could drink Wrex under the table.

Daniel was loaded in the same fighter with Jorge, though he was strapped down just so he didn't shake as much.

"Right we're leaving now, check all pre-flight and make sure to light off in three, two… one." The sabre fighters took off in separate procedures.

Jorge had never used the fighter in atmosphere and the design was mostly a space combat unit, but he understood the basics of flight control, though not as sharp skilled as Daniel.

The four fighters ascended and accelerated from the ship.

XXXXX

Bravo

Shepard watched as the fighters made their quick getaway, she had ordered for all troops to evacuate the 1km radius around the ship.

As the timer hit zero she buckled her ODST helmet on to watch the fireworks.

The ship counter hit zero at the moment when the Sabre's made their landing at the Spirit of Fire.

The sight was impressive, any ODST was crying for the fact that they would witness a victory after so many defeats, the ship blew apart in the very middle and the energy expanded as the engines detonated.

Shepard knew that the colony was nearly destroyed but at least there was hope, and at this very moment the Spirit of Fire began descending with half a dozen prefab bases and structures, with as many pelican drop-ships available, the colony was going to be fine.

XXXXX

[Cerberus Command]

IM: I have read your reports Hill, they are most displeasing, and I thought the strike force was sufficient enough?

H1: Sir, we ran into some complications, the covenant proved far more capable than we could have ever anticipated, we had no idea…

IM: NO, you did, the Shadow Broker is not going to have either resource as we do, but he can share the same results, G1.

H1: Wait what? 'Gunshot'

G1: Done

IM: Good, return to base, and send my regards to the Shadow Broker

(Man this guy is an asshole)

XXXXX

Spirit of Fire, Normandy, Tyr: corrected time: 20:21

6 hours since the destruction of the corvette had the UNSC and Alliance forces rolling back any covenant resistance easy, though air support only arrived after the destruction of the ship because of the AA emplacements that were scattered around.

Now with tanks mopping up everything in sight and the bases beginning construction and support the traumatised people of Tyr could now breathe easier.

Though, the same could not be said for Daniel, who was still inside a medical bio-pod inside the Normandy which was now inside the Spirit of Fire.

Daniel's life seemed to slow down, he could hear voices… "Are you sure?"…. "Wait I think he's coming around."

Daniel opened his eyes to be greeted by familiar faces, except the grey haired officer and the black haired scientist, or the three other Spartans.

Getting up he was greeted by Tali who had been waiting anxiously for him, she hugged him closely, and though his torso was still healing he was happy to know she was safe.

Red team was about to draw weapons for the 21st time after the last false alarm, they never had been used to warm reunions, or family ones, Jorge who had met with them gave the captain an explanation along with Shepard and Dot and Vinaya.

"Oh Keelah, Daniel, I was worried, when you got hit…I just couldn't imagine…" She said in a relieved tone.

Daniel hugged her back, clutching her closer to his body; this did get some coughs from the commander to turn away, the crew sat up from the warm sight to leave the two alone.

XXXXX

"Well it looks like your team mate has a new interest of mind, I wonder if he could ever tell me what it is like to be dating an alien." Serina said jokingly.

"How about being quiet, he is still mine, not that exo-suit wearing bio-mix." Vinaya was getting jealous.

The crew forwarded out of the med bay and to the hangar, Jorge and his fellow Spartans were catching up, Virana was accompanying them as well, but keeping closer to Jorge, she was there to fill in any gaps about the alliance.

"So here aliens are our allies?" Jerome asked, unsure.

"Yes, but not all of them, just the more social ones." Jorge said as he turned to Virana, who seemed to blush.

"Well everyone has to be socially capable, and besides your brother Daniel seems to be more capable than the rest." She said teasingly.

"Now I don't know how long we were away that he decided to get a girlfriend but he seems happy enough, if that's the way he wants to live, I'm just happy to be there for him." Jorge explained.

On the deck above in the science lab or the tech bay, Dot was giving the captain and Anders an overview back in their galaxy, along with most of the other senior officers of the Spirit.

"No, you're telling us that Reach is gone?" An officer named Philips said shocked at the loss of Reach.

"Yes, my apologies but Reach was lost nearly seven months ago, since arriving here in this universe, I am sorry captain."

Cutter was speechless, and tired, he knew something like this might have happened, but now when it did, he just didn't know what to do.

"Sir, I do have records of evacuees, the last flight records of the evacuation of Reach, your daughter has escaped alive and well with her family, though your wife had passed away, nearly five years preciously."

"Thank you, I think that's enough, we should try and focus on what we should be doing now, we will alert the crew however to the loss of Reach after the clean-up." Cutter walked out of the room, stronger and weaker.

The rest of the officers briefed were given details about the recent events happening in the galaxy and an overview of upcoming events.

Anders however, was giving herself sometime to be go over Daniels work, she did have some time to look at some prototype engineering for the FTL drive he was making, she decided she might be able to help, grabbing some tools and schematics she began adjusting .

XXXXX

Jorge was clearing the hangar bay to the crew quarters with the rest of Red team when he saw Daniel stepping out of med bay with Tali, who was now mask less, and Daniel in a black skin suit.

They crept away to Daniels room, Red team only paused more confused as to what they had just witnessed.

XXXXX

VOTE TIME

1 Daniel and Tali are planning to throw a dinner party- How should things go?

What should we include?

E.G. Should things mix and mash, such as Varren steak?

Come on give me recipes for the night and how we should boil things over

2 Shepard has a romance, who should it be?

3 Vinaya is about to burn, should we reveal her android shell?

4 Do we include the entire cast in the dinner night, that includes SOF and Red team

5 Do we have Red team join the crew of the Normandy?

6 Fun for all or none?

7 Stories upcoming:

MEX FMA (Full metal Alchemist?) Already started

ME X Gundam Seed Destiny? Sorry guys had to delete the previous story because of bad reviews

Mass Effect: OC story- different things not from the game or anything to do with canon

Suggestions?-


	20. CHECKPOINT 1

Floor 1: dinning, kitchen appliances, and Androids?

(Yes I there is now a Gundam Seed and Mass Effect story I have now started, I hope it does better, if you want to read it just go to my profile, BTW it doesn't get updated until I finish Revelations and Freelancer, which will be pretty soon.)

IMPORTANT

GO TO THE BOTTOM

VOTE AND NOTICE

BIGGEST AND MOST IMPORTANT VOTE

BTW Shepard and Liara it is 2/3

[Vinaya is back!]

And also when I meant fun for all I meant drunk and funny!

XXXXX

Cyber space, the only place an AI could possibly exist, either than a holographic display unit mounted inside the ship.

Vinaya was not happy, as a matter of fact she was mad, but then again that was less significant. Daniel had let her go; he had gone and done… things with the quarian girl named Tali.

The reason for the things was because Tali disabled all the med bay cameras and projectors, and the only people inside were her and Daniel. Vinaya felt cheated, absolutely cheated, every move she made for Daniel was blocked by the quarian and any attempts around her was ignored by Daniel.

She was going to get him back, if not in cyber space, then in physiology.

The cupboard in Daniels room started sparking; it was nearly time for the grand unveiling.

XXXXX

Med bay (THIS IS FOR YOU ROMANCERS, FRIGGIN PERVS)

The moment when Tali simply kissed him made him startle, this was such a rush, and it felt alien to him in more ways than one.

But he embraced her and held their kisses together, he could see Tali's face, it was a soft whitish purple but held a more pale complexion rather than purple, her eyes were slightly narrow but looked equally human and coloured silver, they reflected the light around them making them seem to glow.

She had no hair but the smooth look of her head was shaped slightly oval like, more or less of a heart, but she looked perfect, in every way.

They kissed for almost an eternity, and…

Well just use your imagination for the rest of two hours.

(Not you know what but how about a rest type of thing with both in each other's arms?)

XXXXX

-Two hours later

Waking up to the smell of antiseptic and decontamination, Daniel sat back up, he found himself lying next to a nearly suited Tali.

Carefully he nudged her, she woke with. "Oh Keelah, that was wonderful, I never took you for such a great kisser." She said and smiled.

"Well on the note of lips." Daniel said as he kissed her again. "Maybe we should, get started on dinner, we have been asleep for the last two and a half hours and it's nearly six, if we start now we can get everyone at the table by seven." He said carefully smoothing his hand around her shoulders.

They made sure they suited up before exiting the med bay; Dr Chakwas was waiting at the table in the mess hall with a newspaper and coffee.

"Dr Chakwas?" Daniel asked.

She turned to face the couple, though she didn't have a surprised look, more inquisitive than confused, she replied.

"Yes?"

"We were wondering if you could contact the others about dinner tonight, could you call up the Spirit and ask for Captain Cutter and Dr Anders, don't worry about Red Team, I'm pretty sure that Jorge will come along with Virana."

"Okay then, well if you don't mind I should get back to work." The Dr went back to the med bay, but when she got inside she was in for a surprise.

'Couples these days, romantic as they are, they leave a mess.' She thought as she looked at the bed mess.

XXXXX

Daniel and Tali were now inside their room, which became a shared room when Tali kissed him, now looking about Tali was more than ever sure to be happy, she had never had such a luxurious room, mainly because she never wanted one and was usually used to closed spaces.

Daniel went to change his clothes, which meant Tali could wander about, but she never imagined that Daniel and she would ever be together; in fact this was almost surreal that both could possibly fall in love.

Arriving at their shared kitchen she began to plan out their first and formal dinner with them and the crew, everyone was in for a surprise.

Clearing the room she set up 5 white table board originally used for work benches, now there was space for half the crew, she went back to the kitchen and began to carefully count the dishes and utensil.

Daniel finally came out of the changing closet to be greeted by Tali helping set things up.

Walking behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"So, what should we make for dinner?"

Giggling a bit she smiled.

"Well I was thinking a whole mix, something for Wrex and Garrus but also something for the crew."

"Fine, let's see, how about orange and lime for Varren for Wrex and a Dextro-protein meal for Garrus, and then a full buffet for the crew, seeing as Red Team is joining us for dinner tonight, desert should be a cake?"

"I'm not too sure about human foods such as cake, but if it's smooth and sweet and gets the crews approval then it's fine." She said beginning to heat things up.

"Okay then it's settled, we mix things up, I'll go grab the ingredients and you get the kitchen up and running."

If there was a happier couple in the galaxy it had to be Tali and Daniel.

XXXXX

The crew was gathering outside of the room, this time Adams and Pressly were amongst the invited, there was also Captain Cutter with Anders now in less formal clothes with Red Team and Jorge happily catching up.

"So John is still out there?" Jerome asked.

"He is, though I know he's still fighting back there, I just don't know if we won." Jorge said.

"Well if he is then he'll do the best he can, you know John, nothing will ever beat him." Alice 130 said.

Waiting in another part of the cue was Shepard and Liara who had decided to dress a little more casual, while Ash was in her overalls; they were conversing about Liara and Shepard's relationship.

No one needs to go into details at this point in time.

Daniel opened the door to the room, and everyone entered, Chakwas brought herself out of the med bay to witness the dinner, she also brought a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy.

Upon entering the room again, Shepard was surprised that it had suddenly changed, the walls that had paper hanging to it was replaced by cabinets and properly organised boxes, and the holographic display screen was now showing a beautiful image of Reach's mountain range.

The entire room was spotless, and Tali and Daniel were both in the kitchen.

"Hi guys, come on in dinner is ready to be served." He said shifting a large pot from one stove to another.

They all sat down and conversed about their usual duties or interesting crew talk, except Anders who decided she rather look at some calculations.

Red team had to lose their suits and replace them with the similar designed variants of MKV that Daniel made, Jorge was the only Spartan that had actually decided to remove his armour completely and change into a black set of overalls set in a separate room, though he did feel a bit vulnerable.

Virana was with Jorge she had changed into a casual dress similar to Liara, though her face had marks of a white diamond on her forehead.

Kaiden and Joker were by each other talking about how the Normandy would fare against Sovereign.

Finally setting things down, dinner was ready, Tali brought out the silver ware and plates, Daniel brought the entrée, and the cups.

Brandy and some wine went in between the crew, though Liara decided for orange juice, Virana brought some asari wine which Red team carefully sipped.

The dinner was relatively good, everyone spread things about, especially some Rycnol that Wrex managed to smuggle in, though he would save it for the after dinner drink with the Spartans.

Daniel set down the main course, a large cooked Varren with orange dressing and lime went down in the end where Wrex and the Spartans were sitting, in the next course a large dinner chicken and sets of roasted beef with potatoes, the other end of the table where Shepard and Liara with Ash was sitting had a warm roast leg ham, if there was ever a dinner as large as this, Shepard had just witnessed a large one not the most fancy but enjoyable.

No one needed to say anything but.

"Well, I hope you all enjoy dinner tonight, courtesy of me and Tali, and I have great new, Tali and I are dating."

And now the whole joining of the crew suddenly stopped dead, Wrex said.

"Congratulations, let's hear it for the new couple." Wrex said lifting a cup or large mug of Rycnol in the air.

Everyone cheered.

"Now let's also remember this dinner in memory of Reach, our home and our hope, we hope to see our people alive and well." Daniel said with a more sombre tone.

The cups went up and then back down.

The dinner began, but they never could get through anything without an interruption.

'THUD, THUD, THUD.' The sound was clearer than day, the noise was coming from Vinaya's little room.

Daniel clearly knew that there was going to be trouble, moving from his seat he went over to the cupboard door, and opened it.

And with this the door began to hiss, and steam poured out of the door.

And revealing the single occupant inside was, a red haired woman, tall and slender and looked much like Vinaya's avatar just without the wings and she was a nice skin colour, most men would ogle at her beauty but that was just Joker and Kaiden and maybe Pressly.

Vinaya smiled as she stepped out of the cubicle dressed, and very pretty…

"So, did I get an invitation to join?" She said.

Daniel was unimpressed; he knew she would pull something off in such a happy moment.

"Vinaya, you look well, and yes you can seeing as you're already here, and where is Serina?" He asked.

He already knew of her when he was gathering cooking supplies from Tyr and the Spirit.

"She's busy with the relief effort on the planet and Dot is running some programs for the new FTL core that Anders here finished." She said in a passive aggressive manner.

"Fine, take a seat, though no taunting the chef." He said offering her a seat.

"Thank you." She sat only a chair away from him and Tali.

The crew began to talk and share knowledge while eating dinner, or share old war stories.

Shepard had explained once before during the Blitz she had saved lives inside of a shopping centre and managed to complete a mission into enemy held lines.

This was beaten with Jorge sharing a wonderful story of him chewing apart nearly a few thousand with him MG during a battle on some unnamed colony where the original Noble Six died, this was kind of sad to know that many of the other Spartans had perished since the beginning of the war.

Red team explained their mission with the permission of captain Cutter of the shield world they had destroyed, Vinaya had explained her own discoveries of the unknown alien species called the forerunners just for her own ego.

Things continued to go smoothly as talks continued, food was passed and drinks were served, Daniel though was the last to talk about the final battle of Reach, though Shepard and the Normandy crewmen knew of the story Cutter and Red team along with Jorge never knew much about the details.

At the end he was relieved to get the story off his chest, Jorge was at least understanding of what had occurred and Red team was equally calm about the loss of Reach.

Things went into desert time, and everyone got a slice of cake, it was white chocolate with fruit and ice cream.

Though Tali and Garrus had their own deserts and Wrex had a bottle of rycnol for himself.

After desert Vinaya tried to play sly and get closer to Daniel, she also tried to comment how nice the evening was and how the good times they had spent.

Tali, was about to smack Vinaya with an overload wen Daniel intervened.

"Hey I got an idea, how about we don't start cat fights at the dinner table?"

Wrex muttered. "Why not, they're going to go at it later anyway."

Daniel brushed the comment off and said.

"Personal history, you know just to get to know each other better?"

The others seemed fine with the change in subject.

The crew shared their personal history but only what the others just needed to know, it was just that Jorge and Daniel along with the others Spartans decided to avoid their own, due to the sheer fact it was either killing something or training.

Shepard revealed that she grew up on a colony, but her family was killed by pirates and that she was then adopted by an asari family, this was considerably interesting, she went on about bits of her childhood until the Skyllian Blitz.

Adams had a fascinating story about his service record and his family back on Arcturus.

Joker went on about his time with Daniel, and about his interesting magnetism with women, he also talked about one girl who was a Cerberus operative and Daniel kindly told her to get lost, Tali and Vinaya were both pleased there wasn't any other competitors.

Wrex talked about his family armour, which Shepard was planning on helping with, Garrus and Dr Saleon, and Tali with her story about the Geth and their point of origins.

Anders went on about John Forge, a senior officer who died on the shield world, and her research into the forerunners.

Captain Cutter talked about his family and how he always missed them, and then the previous records as the war with the covenant began, it was also surprising that Jorge recalled something from the second battle of Harvest.

Ash wanted to talk about the happiest day when her sister asked if she could join C-sec, though she did disapprove, but it was her sister so she supported her decision. (This is for the guy who wrote **Mishaps of a Citadel Security Wannabe**)

Daniel told them the life he used to live, though it was surprising for the Spartans to know that Kurt 051 was alive, and it was good to hear about Mendez still going at it after a long time in service.

Now with everything out of the way, things seemed to slow down, everyone just wanted to get some rest soon, Daniel cleared everything up with Tali and everyone helped pack things away, though a few were quietly drunk, Red team was packing it in for the night, Alice had a bit too much rycnol as a challenge from Wrex, Adams was being carried by Pressly and Chakwas was helped by Joker, Kaiden was snoring on the couch next to the TV when Ash decided to help him up.

Shepard was with Liara sleepily wandering into Shepard's room, Jorge was with Virana going to their own cabin which was next to Red Teams, and Garrus was helping Anders get to a room, but instead she liked being in his arms and fell asleep, he decided to take her to a bed in the lab room, which was placed there by him for late nights.

Captain Cutter was back aboard the Spirit with the help of Serina who had noticed his slight intoxication; she managed to guide him safely to his room, before he nearly tripped over a tray in the corridor.

Wrex was nowhere to be found, but it was suspected he was somewhere in the storage room asleep on some crates. Vinaya was interestingly designed a means of actually becoming intoxicated and was drunkenly asleep in her cubicle.

After the clean-up, Tali and Daniel enjoyed their night together, and in one move to their shared room Tali and Daniel kissed.

"So it was a good night?" He asked as he carefully held her.

"Yes, I think it was a good night, 'yawn', let's just talk about it later." She said and fell asleep.

Well no big surprises here….

XXXXX

Here is something you guys need to know:

1 The SOF will be part of the Alliance, but is now under the employment of Daniel- explaining why?

2 Daniel owns an entire corporation, as in a massive one contracted to the HSA called: NOVA END

It makes billions of billions of credits: because they make bio-gel, weapons and technology and terra forming technology and ships as well as household products, so Shepard and Daniel will never have to actually buy things and also that is the reason why they can afford to buy foods

3 Red Team is not going to join the Normandy- they do have a temporary room though, they will make their own side stories as the Normandy missions continue, but note this, the RVB cast stories will continue on with its own chapters, the SOF will have its own private stories as well now.

4 There is going to be a rewrite as soon as the story is finished, not all chapters just the ones that need most attention and I will note which ones, so look for them

5 The romances are now-

Liara/Shepard

Anders X Garrus? - You need to vote on this one

Serina -

Vinaya X Legion – need to vote

What ever happened to what his name?

Jenkins is making reappearance later

Conrad Verner should he join the team?

OH WELL IT'S TIME TO VOTE!

The other suggestions are already here so you need to read through those very carefully.

1, The SOF will have its own story with the RVB guys, should this be acceptable or should I try to integrate them into the story line with Daniel?

2, Plot twist, Conrad Verner, the accidental hero: Conrad is going about like Shepard, doing right and doing stuff in an awesome way, he saves an asari kitten from a tree and gets clawed and maybe smacked by a throw, but he is also going to show up with _CENSORED

Should he join up before defeating Saren or after?

The story is called: MAN OF ACTION, it's a comedy for those who love ME: Conrad V.

3, Hero's die but Legends don't … THE BIG QUESTION. JOHN IS BACK! OR IS HE?

The Normandy is going to… sorry story plot is censored, but should we bring John back from the grave?

He will play apart for the two year gap and help with something…

4, Another OC story for this crossover: DEUS EX MACHINA: OMEGA CRISIS, don't worry it's in another story which I will post up: all rights reserved to JON CJG: Digital Ph33r: I love you

Overview: Jon Brent, a young human living on Omega, the system there has improved thanks to the efforts made by Daniel 312, and humans have now had improved lifestyles, more militant factions have appeared to be taking control on Omega and Aria wants it back, war is inevitable.

Jon is torn as his family is butchered by the anti-human factions, and his friends are killed in the conflict for unity. He is now DEUS EX MACHINA the Saviour of Omega. Will he join up with Garrus in ME2?

And he will make an appearance later for Conrad Verner and Liara to bring down the collectors and The Shadow Broker.

5, Ghosts of Onyx, they are going to be in the ME2 universe later or sooner?

6, Should we sacrifice, Kaiden, Ashley or Jenkins for Virmire? (I'm thinking Jenkins)

7, Daniel, should he marry Tali?

THIS IS IT BOYS AND GIRLS


	21. Chapter 18

Zombies, robots, and ninjas

Vote at bottom

Normandy: Spirit of Fire: Arcturus

The Normandy came out of FTL with the largest ship in HSA space, the Spirit had been in transit for nearly three days, a FTL tug and a fleet of ships were sent to secure the UNSC vessel, though it had been a more exhausting flight, mostly due to the extended period of time needed to get the ship to the relay and move past.

Now heading into dock, Daniel and Shepard along with all of the officers and Spartans were gathering in the hangar to meet with admiral Hackett.

"Sir" Daniel said and saluted.

"At ease soldier you not under my jurisdiction anymore." He said returning the salute.

Turning to Cutter he gave a handshake.

"Good to meet you, you must be Captain Cutter I presume?"

"Likewise, sir, we sent the message from the Normandy of our arrival from Tyr." The two resumed their normal postures.

Hackett noticed the sudden increase in Spartan numbers.

"I assume the extra force is necessary?" Hackett asked.

"They're here to help, and I am sure Daniel helped explain his situation."

"Yes he did, as much as we try to disapprove on the use of gene augmentation, they are who they are, and the alliance is open to any help it can receive."

"Sir, just curious, has Alliance command accepted our 'employment'?"

"Well that is not technically for me to decide, as to your situation, Lieutenant Daniel here has more pull than what most other soldiers have, considering you are actually employed by the Nova Corp, which Daniel founded, they have more pull within the alliance than most people know, so, yes."

This was slightly startling; most Spartans have no head for business or politics.

Daniel decided to explain.

"Sir, I think you might want to know, as the founder of Nova Corp, I am only just its founder and creator, but I don't actually run the corporation, I just helped build it, over six months, Vinaya is actually the one who runs most of the products and such."

This explanation helped clear a lot of confusion up, though most wouldn't question what a Spartan could ever accomplish, so they never did, especially in Daniels case.

Preparing to set off again, Daniel was happy to let the Spirit rest in the docks for repair, Shepard had told them that their next point of interest was coming up and fast.

XXXXX

Things on the Normandy was quickly settling down, Daniels announcement of his romance with Tali did nothing to spark anyone's attention, Red team was now aboard the Normandy, Shepard and Liara were spending more time together, and Kaiden was sleeping in the quarters.

Ash was nowhere to be seen at this point, Vinaya was cleaning her 'room' and Garrus was spending time with Dr Anders, Jorge was training in the lower holds with Red team, and an old friend made his return, Jenkins who had been in surgery for nearly a month had finally been given a clean bill of health.

The rest of the crew was doing what they had to do, so nothing special today, the only difference was the new tank that just arrived and the four warthogs and one APC, two Pelicans and the Sabre fighters in the hangar.

The fighters were just there as support, the warthogs were their new form of getting to their destination fast and the Mako was no more, it was replaced by a new vehicle that Daniel had left in development called: MK1 Ballista Rail Tank, the vehicle was made much like a Cobra but kept the more Mako look, fast and destructive with added speed and fire power.

The news from Tyr was things were being cleared away and the remaining wreckage has been secured by the Nova foundation along with Alliance forces, reconstruction was to begin in a month with the help from the Spirit of course.

Cutter was accepted as a part of the alliance but with Daniels decision had left them out of any major alliance databanks like he did for himself.

The Spirit was going to have to stay as a repair and defence for alliance colonies in the traverse, though it was getting break time for the crew, having just arrived in this universe.

Nova foundation keeps its checks on all of the Spirits systems and weapons making sure the ship would be combat ready before the end of the week, some add-ons such as FTL for the under development engines Anders was working on would not be active for a while longer, so the ship stayed in dock until completed.

There really wasn't much to say.

XXXXX

Now en route to Feros

Another day or so before hitting Feros, Daniel was checking on all of his gear, and preparing some.

Liara was a new addition to the team and rather unexpected one; he had thought to keep some other variants of suits so he had to improvise something from inventory.

Biotics was not in his area of expertise but he knew that biotic powers weren't as useful if stuck inside a heavy suit of armour, fashioning some ODST armour and light combat gear.

He had already finished a set of armour for Wrex, but that was more complicated, the suit had to be made from the same material as the MKV because Wrex was capable and suited to heavy armour but it had to sacrifice biotic protection in order for the suit to suffice.

Tali's suit had taken damage on Tyr so there was that to repair and Jorge was in need of something new, the amount of things was plenty, but this was simple chores.

Virana's arrival as well had slowed the process to complete, though Daniel wasn't complaining.

Setting the computer to give the best possible estimate for the suit size and design he left to get a drink of water.

The cafeteria was practically empty; there were very few people inside at the present moment, though he did notice Shepard enjoying a cup of coffee by a table near the port side window, and Jorge who had just finished a drill.

Everyone was either in stasis or asleep in quarters seeing as it was 5:20 in the morning, Daniel liked working early so he decided it was easier to just get things squared away before missions, he also needed time for Tali, so that as well.

Grabbing a cup from a dispenser he went over to the water tank and poured himself a cup.

There was quite literally nothing to do but wait, heading to his quarters he decided to check on Tali.

Opening the doors he headed to their bed, Tali, was quietly sleeping on the bed.

Walking over to her, he stroked her head gently so he did not wake her from slumber.

XXXXX

Arcturus

CVF Spirit of Fire

Only one day of relaxation for the crew came as they were to be redeployed, thanks to Nova Corp they were at optimum capacity and ready to get to the fight, or deploy support.

Daniels upgrades were added to the ship, including the fusion FTL drive and the new ablative armour, there was also all the new repair work added by the corporation, the ship now had an extra area for defence.

The new refit also came with the new infantry gear, the crew of 8,750 was given all the basic uniforms and armour upgrades.

ODSTs had to remove their old suits so they could receive their new ones, Allan Ulan of the 21st ODST expeditionary force that was stationed on Advent a world that had recently joined in the conflict, he was shipped to a naval training facility for some time before being admitted, he was 19 and a very skilled and smart soldier.

Allan had a history with the covenant, especially since burning Cyrus V in 2529, when he was 17, he could never turn his eyes to forgive the covenant, but he restrained himself from the other species of this universe.

Now receiving the new armour he placed his own custom suit, red and black set nicely over his body, and one dark visor.

Pilots on the flight deck were gathering all their gear; all pelicans had to receive upgrades and the sparrows, hawks were being re-armed with more weapons and tech, while the vultures began to undergo changes.

Tank and vehicle drivers were having the time of their lives, they had to sit out waiting for the Nova Corp to replace their Scorpions armour and add on shields, Grizzlies were no different, and the warthogs had to mount new gauss guns, the elephant transports were being designed for planetary insertion and the Wolverine MAT was being refitted with new cluster missiles.

The only thing that did not change was Serina who had decided to be a little picky on what she wanted as an upgrade, she now had the option of clothes and a few choices of make-up and colour, she was now looking livelier as her holographic projector made her life like form attractive.

(Just kidding)

James Cutter watched as the reports came over the ship, he had only so much time, his ready room was already undergone its changes, a small fish tank or garden attachment came with his new room (ME2) which seemed larger than most of the ships standard compartments.

Robert Damien was a flight officer, a civilian flight officer, he had some of the worst luck, the ship he was on was being attacked as it left Arcadia and he had no choice but to scramble aboard the Spirit, he was temporarily commissioned to assist the crew when they reached the shield world.

He had plenty of shuttle piloting skills, but he was mainly a private flyer, he had also used to fly older long-sword fighter bombers, and crashed a plane at one point into a set of cars, he had a good reason, but the council did not want to hear an excuse.

He eventually ended up going about looking for work and found himself on Arcadia.

Now being commissioned into the ranks here, he found himself stuck with the crew once again, he had no objections to it though, he was sure that he could make a new life here, he had nothing to go back for, and he was still 20, with lots of time left.

Med bay, medical officer Gregory Hurston was dealing with some patients from the Tyr campaign as he kindly put it, he was not the best in this area, seeing as he worked as a medical practitioner on Arcadia, he and 249 other civilians were aboard the ship, they all had to pitch in to the effort.

He was a doctor not a nut job, as he was constantly placed in near death situations, he was also on the shield world, and Tyr, he had no place in the military yet he continued to assist, he doubted he might ever get off the ship.

But then again he was 21 with a university degree in medical science, a major in medicine and minor in technology.

He was only starting to work when the attack happened, so his career went straight out the window.

The ship was at its peak capacity soon, and with the loss of some crewmen they were to receive more, another 500 plus candidates for the crew were being selected by admiral Hackett, he decided only to choose those who were simply capable, in the end it was rounded down to the last 500.

Serina did a very thorough background check and medical examination of each to determine the best suited and least, she ended with most being combat capable, but most were also volunteers, not being the most well suited for heavy combat or archaic vehicles.

She also found an entire Cerberus infiltration team, which were led into a small compartment and spaced, though they were inside their hard suits, so there wasn't much to do either than wait for rescue.

The day went by quickly, and most of the ship was back up to combat status, Arcturus though had received some other recruits, a salarian STG task force and Asari commando detachments with one Turian company, this was just in the interests of the council species.

Serina was tasked with trying to locate the best and most suitable areas, and she also performed a more thorough check on each of the assigned task forces backgrounds.

Finding no evidence of being a threat she allowed each to join the crew, but more new arrivals, a salarian spectre and asari with Nihlus himself joined the crew.

It wasn't easy for the marines or the entire ship to get used to having aliens aboard.

There was also the fact that they had some quarian engineers, which were employed by Nova Corp, Serina had some issues with them running about, they did not trust the AI or the fact that the entire ship did, though the recent conflict with the geth had pushed their decision to assist.

There was just 50 quarians, though most were helping maintain the ship, and the engines.

Some of the other species started inquiring as to why the quarians were aboard, Serina was sent to tell them that everyone was allowed their opinions, though racial discrimination was not necessary, the recent conflict with the geth had not favoured the quarian people.

But with everything said and done, there was only one thing left to do.

XXXXX

Feros

A large wave of geth poured into the landing bay, the team started a systematic purge, Daniel stepped on the head on a downed unit and continued fighting, he and the others punched through the lines like paper.

Sky way

A pelican dropped off the Ballista with Shepard and her strike team, Red team was dropping in by HEV at the designated sight, while Shepard cleared the road.

"Were burning sunshine people, let's move it."

VOTE

What should the Spirit of Fire's first mission be?

Bring down the sky?

Rachni?

Cerberus: Hades Dogs?

Just review, I want to know.

And BTW choose which is the next pairing


	22. Chapter 19

Accidents aren't always accidents

VOTE at the bottom!

Here is just something for those who wanted to know more about the thing on the SOF before their first mission.

BTW there is a little nudity, but I will not be putting anything to explicit, just humorous.

Swimsuits and Serina, how does this sound?

XXXXX

Spirit of Fire

3 days after repairs

Terra Nova, Orbit

The Spirit of Fire was gracefully gliding over the world of Terra Nova, not too far from here Tyr was under recent reconstruction, the process was ongoing and exhausting, but it was worth the effort.

The more important reason or the Spirit being above Terra Nova was because it needed to resupply before leaving for Tyr once more, inside everyone was in a good mood, mostly because it was R&R day, only once every so often they were allowed at least a day to break.

The multiple crewmen were going about some routine business or preparing, or having special occasions to catch up with comrades, the other species side of the story wasn't to dissimilar, they were either in the sparring room, or target practice, or just relaxing in the starboard cafeteria.

XXXXX

SOF, Tech room

Serina had just like her AI counterpart on the Normandy decided to have an android shell, but this was just when she had the time, Serina was getting more and more human, she had been able to feel all the emotions granted to her by the recent upgrades.

She was planning to go straight ahead with the android plan and take a break, copying all the necessary programs through the SOF so that complex to simple questions could be answered in her absence, all things said and done, she downloaded herself.

A few minutes passed until the room in the tech labs suddenly opened, a similar to a stasis pod door crept open, thankfully no one was inside to see Serina step out of the pod, her hair was as her avatar was, which was black and long, her skin much like a humans pink and soft with added smoothness.

There was just one slight problem, unlike her AI counterpart; she did not plan entirely ahead.

"Ah, it's good to be alive, is there a breeze?" She said to herself.

She looked down at her body… her exposed body.

'Oh'

She was panicking, the first time she ever had felt the need to panic, she was naked, butt naked in the tech labs, carefully hiding herself behind the table she looked about for anything to cover herself, but found nothing, the lab coats were in the lockers and all were locked by the personnel keypads.

She had not planned for this very small detail; one reason in specific was, because she had no one to buy her clothes, with the exception of captain Cutter.

There was also the fact that she couldn't simply retransfer herself to the system via wireless, because of her in adjustment to the body, there was still too many things for her body to process, so she was stuck until she could transfer, which was another 23:50minutes.

She knew if she stayed any longer she could be seen, she did not want to go through the embarrassing situation of trying to explain.

So sticking her head out the lab door, she looked around the corridor, she found it empty, though down the corridor was the rec room, and to the starboard the cafeteria, she had to avoid public attention at all costs.

She thought about where to, and then it hit her, the public bathrooms and pools, they were just on the port side, the Nova Corp added a pool for rec, and a new bathroom, her only hope of escaping was there, because there was a public swimsuit dispenser in the pools, and as recyclable as they were, she could wear a towel over it and walk to the quarters on the floor above.

So planning well ahead, she prepared to sprint, she also accessed the local IFF on her retina to determine if anyone was within 25m, she did a quick look, and there was no one around, most were probably still inside, and the others were already gone to other duties, the shower time was also over about 30 minutes ago so they should be empty, scrolling down, she found no bookings.

So gathering up all her pride and closing her eyes, she made a sprint so fast that it would have made Kelly cry with admiration, and every male aboard ogle.

She did not however plan on one little thing, spectres don't show up on roosters, Nihlus was just exiting his shower room, he had a long session of training and just wanted a nice bath, he choose this time of course to avoid detection from the other males.

He was just a few of those turians who ever took showers aboard military vessels; he only found it relaxing when a human female compatriot suggested it to him.

He could hear a faint tapping, getting closer, and turning around he could see a very fast moving person or woman, completely naked and only 10 feet away.

"Stop there." He could have said more, but with Serina closing her eyes and hoping for her auto movements to guide her, she ran breast first into Nihlus.

The large towel flew into the air as Serina collided with Nihlus; he received a face full of Serina' beauty, so kindly put, he was not familiar with human relationships but he was sure there was nothing about women flying into the faces of men at nearly 40km/h.

Serina realising the mistake, apologised. "Spectre Nihlus, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

"It's alright, wait, Serina?" He said, as he noticed her form from the introduction.

"Yes it's just me, running about, giving any turian I see, a big naked hug." She joked.

The towel landed coincidently back on the two and just in time.

"Hey guys, I heard a crash, what…" A marine or more specifically a turian marine who had heard the commotion exited the rec room double doors, revealing the pair to the whole crew.

"Din, close the door." Nihlus said to the marine.

Things were already too late, with more than 1000 plus crewmembers who had just witnessed the most interesting spectacle of their lives.

The doors shut, and a wave of whoops and laughs came out, and commotion and wolf calls, most of the crew never expected Serina to go after aliens.

Serina was utterly embarrassed, but she did realise why they were calling out, probably because she was sitting right above his…

"Umm Nihlus, maybe we should go." She said hastily picking herself off the turian, it was until she realised that Nihlus was wearing shorts thankfully.

"Right, you might want to take the towel, I don't think running into anyone naked is the best idea."

"Thank you." She said before making her 5feet journey into the women's change room.

She was now more than ever sure that this was going to be the gossip of the ship for the rest of the year, she sighed, she never had a person she could call her own or ever call someone she loved, but this new experience was interesting, during her collision with Nihlus, he inexplicably grabbed her breasts, which left her at a bit of pause for the new sensation, she decided not to explore there.

Going into the change room, she found the suit dispenser, it had M-XL, she decided for M, putting the skin tight swimsuit on, she pressed a wrist bracelet, the bracelet made sure it was secure, and once it was on it felt like another layer of skin.

She but the towel over the single piece suit and made her way to the lift.

Serina had not bumped into anyone after that, and made sure to avoid any type of contact until she reached the requisition officer.

As the lift opened to crew quarters, she made her way down the hallway, the cramped look was now gone replaced by more cleaner hallways and better lighting, but even so she decided to rush a bit more.

And of course she had to run into another person.

Cutter was finishing the recent reports on the geth front and operations, there was a report about Cerberus not long ago and strange disappearances in the Hades Gamma and Voyager clusters.

He was also finishing a requisition report on the current status of the Spirit, all things listed and put in place, another day and the ship was ready to leave dock.

He was just turning around when he was slammed into by a female crewman in a swimsuit and towel.

"Sorry sir, I was just going to the requisition room." She said.

"Crewmen, wait, Serina?" He said as he noticed her.

"Oh right, I, just got here."

"Why are you half naked in a swimsuit?"

"Just wanted to do some R&R I just had some issues with clothes." She said waving at her body.

"Fine, you can choose from the casual selection, charge it from my account, just choose something less revealing." He said moving off.

She was relieved for a second she was sure it was going to end up like Nihlus.

When she arrived at the room, she quickly began a look through the catalogue; she eventually chose a nice looking long sleeve shirt with a slightly open cleavage, and a black pair of pants.

She also got to choose her room which sat not far from the captains or Nihlus; she dressed and set herself to hopefully avoid another incident.

XXXXX

Cafeteria starboard wing

Serina walked through the crowds of fellow comrades and crewmates, though some were gossiping about her recent accident, she decided to ignore them and hope for the best.

She moved over to a table with of course, Nihlus, who was busy still trying to contemplate what to do, he noticed Serina as she approached, he uncomfortably moved over to provide her space, this did involve moving all the other spectres and Cutter to provide this.

"Thank you." She said sitting next to him.

The table went suddenly quiet, it wasn't until, and they placed their dinner orders.

The asari spectre was enjoying her wondrous meal of vegetables and steak steamed and cleaned, it also had a side dish and a desert which she was saving.

The salarian decided to go for just a prepared meal he had stored in his bag.

Serina was the only one who had never tasted anything in her life, she decided to go for chef's special and a wonderful serving of chocolate ice cream and some jelly.

Nihlus watched with interest as he ordered his own dinner, though all he could have was a soup and a full serving of some stuffs from Terra Nova.

Things at dinner went smooth, though with the exception of Serina, who decided to start tasting some of the chocolate she ordered.

The asari spectre challenged her chocolate ice cream against the grape jelly desert, it lasted five minutes, with Serina winning by default.

Cutter decided to ask.

"Serina, what was it about you and Nihlus that has the entire ship on stand still?"

She froze along with Nihlus.

"We just had an accident in the hallway, and someone decided to check in on the commotion."

She only just realised how odd that sounded.

"So the commotion was about what?"

"I'd rather not talk about that, sir."

She was not entirely sure about human emotions, but at this point, embarrassment was all she could feel.

(WE WILL CONTINUE THIS NEXT TIME)

XXXXX

Med bay

Gregory was checking over the numbers again and again, he had to be sure of what he needed on his next mission, who was to accompany the main force on the ground; he was to drop in with a detachment from the 21st company stationed aboard.

Their target was a recent distress call from an outpost in the Erebus system, they had a report of unknown alien contacts and needed support, so now he and a platoon were to deploy at once.

Setting measures on all his gear, and checking his ammo count, the volunteer medic was ready to deploy as soon as possible.

Greg never liked combat or aliens, but he didn't really have anything against the council species, just the covenant.

Clinical precision was needed for his job and this was part of it.

Sighing, he set another clip of thermal ammo and incinerators on a side bench.

XXXXX

Hangar bay

Robert Damien had set out the long ranged pelican shuttle, as he and the other called it toucan, the nose end was double the size and the length was adjusted to carry troops and vehicles, the new shuttle was designed to look much like the pelican, but it needed the extra space for long flight engines and FTL.

He watched as the team set in, he could see the white armour ODST variant of hazard ops with medical symbols, and the black armour of regular ODST and assault teams.

Two mongooses were placed inside the shuttle to conserve space for the large scorpion tank, they had only just one mission so it wasn't going to be hard to accomplish.

Robert just wished he had a better career option after his two years.

Navigation being complete he began to warm the engines before he lifted off, the troops packed all their heavy equipment and gear into the racks on the wall and the floor.

XXXXX

Allan was watching as the shuttle left the Spirit of Fire, he was suited into his ODST armour MKV, he could see the stars pass by until they reached the relay,

He was sure that the mission was going to e simple as it was just recon.

XXXXX

Feros

Shepard jumped across another downed geth and slammed a juggernaut in the face with a biotic throw; she had been dealing with the geth protecting the room only one block away from the frigate attached to the outside.

Red team was making definite progress, they purged the enemies in the higher levels, and they had now reached the lower levels of the building and were in the process of removing the claw.

Daniel was stuck under the cover of the bridge, he and his team decided to follow up on Shepard, but they had to walk, so they made it to the nook in the bridge and met the survivors of the colony.

There was going to be a long wait.

XXXXX

There it is for now.

VOTE

So what is next?

1 Do we just stick to the main story line and just see how things go

Or should we see how the OC team fares against the Rachni?

2 Serina is now in solid form:

What is her next dress? :3


	23. Chapter 20

CH23

We've got hostiles…

VOTE AT BOTTOM

(I apologise for the lateness of my recent chapters, I have been recovering from the loss, of someone, close.)

I will be continuing to post whenever I can

And let us remember the lost

11/11/18

XXXXX

The Last Post

In the darkness of the void, so cold and empty, it seemed so peaceful…

John looked out to the void of space, frozen eyes, watching quietly, and the light from Cortana lit the room so warmly.

The two forever staying close together, and within each other's embraced and tied lives.

"Forever more, and then no more, it's all the same, together again, we'll never forget."

Cortana watched the clock, her form quietly sleeping; it had rested itself on the chest of John, listening quietly to the beat of his heart.

"They'll never forget, we'll never… forget."

The Dawn rose on the horizon, the cold world lit with lights of a dead world, and slowly the two came to meet.

XXXXX

Feros

Zhu's Hope

Alpha team

Daniel could record every moment someone decided to do something stupid there would be a life story, he had tried to communicate with the colonists of Zhu's Hope, but in their response they had directed him to Fai Dan, a man with a problem.

Daniel was searching the lower levels as directed by some of the colonists, he had destroyed a geth jammer with Tali and Garrus, and then proceeded to assisting the colonists of their varren issue, it only took Daniel a single shot from his DMR with an incendiary ammo load.

There was also a water problem that needed addressing, it took a bit of time, and he had some mental issues regarding a psychologically damaged person who was trying to do something in the lower levels.

He did ask Fai Dan, but all he received was a simple explanation of being ill, but it seemed far worse, which of course was proven correct, when he noticed something strange he ordered for a Warthog to catch up with Shepard at Exo Geni.

A call came from Shepard regarding a being that lived under Zhu's Hope, the Thorian was a threat to the colonists by controlling their minds, but there was the problem, they had no means of safely getting the colony back.

He had then stumbled upon the colonists of Feros who were hiding inside a nook under a bridge; he had to deal with a man named Jeong, who decided that the higher ups from Exo-Geni could do anything they wanted and he listened by cleaning up their mess.

"Look here, if the colony is wiped out, do you think that the public will look well upon you?"

"Well, no, but the orders, we can't ignore them, they'll fire my ass…"

"They won't, if a good public image is depicted for saving the colony, then the Exo Geni has nothing to lose." He said.

Jeong considered this option, he had no other choice.

"Fine just get it done fast and efficiently."

The colonists at the nook gave Daniel and the team anti-thorian gas to save the colonists of Zhu's Hope.

Working his way round, Daniel took the warthogs back to the colony, only to receive a bitching from oker.

"Daniel the colonists are trying to claw their way inside, even though they keep breaking their arms, and I keep yelling that the doors are reinforced by two and a half meters of ablative armour."

"Don't let them in and just keep the Normandy down."

"Right Daniel, we don't let crazy zombies or flesh eating colonists aboard." He joked.

"Yeah, really funny Joker, get back to your work." He said.

Driving back to the colony, an interesting sight came to greet the team, a green lump took form of a humanoid figure and started screeching and chasing after them, Daniel was more sensible just to unload his fist into the skull of the poor creature.

"What was that?" Garrus asked.

"Probably something the Thorian created, we don't need to know that, that thing wasn't human, and whatever the Thorian has in store for us can't possibly be good."

"Right, when we start freaking out Daniel we'll tell you." Garrus chuckled.

Opening the doors and backing carefully away, they were greeted by a swarm of creepers, driving the warthog into them Daniel rolled a green fat black line across the floor of the garage.

And in one swift move, Daniel threw a gas grenade at the colonists that were firing on him and the team.

Stopping the car and jumping off, they examined the unconscious colonists, Daniel was sure they'd live, but they'd be better off without something controlling them.

A lift ride upstairs and they were confronted by even more creepers and colonists, Daniel went ahead for this part, he needed to storm the colonists, and being pinned behind a concrete wall was not the best of plans.

He had smacked more colonists across the face than he shot creepers; it was humorous how he had decided to keep count of all his melees.

After 25knockouts, he had waited for the rest to catch up, Shepard only just arrived, and she sprinted with her team to meet Daniel when Fai Dan appeared.

He mumbled something about control when he put the gun to his head, Daniel decided to give him a chance and punched Fai Dan across the back of the skull, and it seemed easier to just knock out a leader than leave the entire colony leaderless.

Dropping him where he once stood he tied his hands together and left him there.

"So anything we just miss?" Shepard asked.

"No nothing much, zombies, mind controlling plants, you know, the usual."

Shepard chuckled as she went over to the console control of the freighter and hit the switch, the side opened up revealing a flight of stairs.

The teams began their descent to the lair.

Red team cleared ahead and Shepard's followed behind, with Daniel just behind.

They entered a space revealing a large plant, or what looked more like a tentacle face engraved on an organic embryo, Red team remembered the Flood but the thing looked different and Shepard never saw anything like it, Daniel was just getting used to seeing new things, so he had no problem knowing that it wasn't good.

XXXXX

The Thorian began to rumble and writhing followed in its mouth, a fully grown asari with green skin slid out, the mucus from the Thorian clearing off, she looked at them with some hatred or discontent.

"You are, not welcome here."

"Well we didn't have much of a choice, you're controlling the colonists of Zhu's Hope, and you might want to explain that first, before you start throwing people out." Daniel said.

"The hosts of the spores are necessary to protect the mother; she guides our fate and our lives, simply unlike your kind of warmth and flesh, another like your kind came here and discussed an agreement for a cipher."

"Cipher, what's the cipher?"

"The Cipher is an inheritance from a race long before you, their knowledge passed to mother when they perished, and now it rests here."

"Well maybe we can come to another agreement, you let the colonists go, and help us understand the Cipher and we let you live."

"No that is unacceptable, your kind betrayed mother before, you will not again." The asari started to glow, but the Thorian started shaking more, another two asari commandoes appeared.

"Commander, go bring this house down on this things head, I'll deal with the green skins, and besides I don't want to hurt women, but this might be tricky, I'll do what I can." He said joking, in a sense.

"Daniel, are you sure?" Tali asked.

"Yes, but this might get messy." He pulled out two of the newly made SMGs.

Pointing at the three as they glowed he shouted. "Go."

The teams went off left and right to disable the Thorian nodes and he ran straight into the fray with the three asari trying to warp him.

XXXXX

Punching left at right, he ducked under their warps, he smacked the first in the gut, and then pushing past the other two he tossed the first into the ground.

The sisters tried to retaliate by firing the shotguns they possessed on their holsters, but Daniel stopped them before they could strike him, grabbing both the shotguns ripped them from their hands.

Tossing them away the two struck him with a biotic throw; he flew into the air, and landed on his feet.

Shepard's team cleared another room and torched the node.

The creature reared and roared as it felt the severing pain.

The asari clones dropped to their knees, they could feel the connection weaken.

At the same time Red team blew apart another node.

The walls of the cavern began to crash down.

Daniel pulled the asari clones out of the way of the way of the rubble and pushed them down; he knocked each one out as a safety precaution.

The final node was destroyed as Red team used their Spartan laser; it melted the final node and cleared the last of the creepers out of the way.

The entire Thorian fell down and brought half the cavern down with it.

XXXXX

After a few minutes later

The team gathered at the starting point, Daniel hefting the three cloned sisters behind him, they were broken, their neural link severed, they were now open to the galaxy without guidance.

But something caught their attention, a sack of biological matter ripped open, and an asari fell out, she was stumbling for a few seconds before she got to her feet.

"I'm free, what happened?" She asked.

"We brought the Thorian down; I assume that you are one of Benezia's followers?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, my name is Shiala, and I was part of the followers that were indoctrinated."

"Indoctrinated? You mean brainwashing?" Shepard asked.

"Yes and no, Sovereign Saren's dreadnought is a strange, unique it possesses a trait that enters one's mind, Benezia thought she could sway him but ended up being indoctrinated."

"So it backfired on her?" Liara asked, she was the only one who had some note of concern to her mother's wellbeing.

"Yes, she and her followers quickly came to the indoctrination effects, we didn't understand, until Saren guided us to wherever he needed, I was one sacrifice needed to communicate with the Thorian and in trade I was given to it, but Saren decided he would just kill the Cipher and cover his tracks."

"Well that shows how much he cares for everyone." Shepard said.

The other asari were now awake, they could see Shiala, and she could see them.

"Why do you have the clones?" She asked.

"Well Daniel here decided to ignore killing, just out of courtesy." Shepard joked.

"I don't know if you should keep them here, without the Thorian they become lost."

"Then I guess you might have to help them, because they are technically you, just cloned." Daniel said.

"We better deal with this after we receive the Cipher." Shepard said.

"Do you want me to join on in this one Shepard?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, it would probably be better if there were two of us rather than one, in case of an emergency."

They both waited their turn.

XXXXX

The first time entering another beings head was the first time he had ever needed to learn fast, and very fast, a neural transfer from Shepard had passed on to him, the message from Shepard went over to him, he could feel and see what she saw, a mental image mixed in with surreal effects.

The team managed to get back upstairs just to check on the colonists.

The colonists all were seemingly fine, with the exception of having their leader mentally disabled for the next week and the asari clones that were now helping rebuild the colony.

The Normandy had contacted the SOF for assistance, they were happy to assist, seeing as they had already dealt with a problem at an outpost and they had a special guest on board that would like to see them.

XXXXX

Briefing room

"So what have we just learnt?" Kaiden asked.

"That asari clones are hot and that zombies are real?" Joker said over the PA.

"Just get back to work Joker." Daniel said.

"Fine, but that means I get to have private time to myself later on, and that means do not disturb."

The team got back to focusing in on their main subject.

"So I ask again, what did we learn?"

"We learnt that the cipher has managed to unlock some of the images, but it is still blurred."

"And that we still have a bit more to go."

"And the council is on the line." Liara said.

"Fine put them through." Shepard and Daniel said in unison.

The images of three of the council figures appeared once more, each interested in their progress with the constant scrutinizing of the turian councillor.

"We received your report commander, lieutenant; it is intriguing to say the least." The asari said.

"Yes with the only fact that you saved you own kind, it only proves that you are only focusing on yourselves, more than the needs of others." He said.

"For your information councillor, we did what we had to do, and we saved the colony because we had a chance to." Daniel stated.

"As your explanation is valid, we do not wish to hamper your progress, just simply giving criticism, as subtle as it is." The salarian honestly said.

"We will continue to monitor your progress spectres, goodbye."

The holograms vanished, and the team was sure to deal with more problems on the way.

"So, how should we continue?" Ashley asked.

"I'd say, we move on to the report given about Noveria, if the source is right, that is where Benezia is, and where we find some of our answers." Daniel said.

"Well, if we have nothing else, dismissed." Shepard said.

But as everyone was exiting, Daniel noticed that Ash and Liara were both staying behind.

'Better if I don't ask.' Daniel thought to himself.

XXXXX

Outpost Alpha

Robert dropped the team inside the designated area, their landing position was just a click away, he could see the ground below, it was like a volcano had recently erupted and left searing scars across the length of the planet, but in total it was like any ordinary and dreary world.

The mongooses dropped out the rear hatch when the scorpion landed; they all clustered down in a tight formation as the shuttle took off.

"2-4-9-8. Diego here, taking off. Good hunting marines." Robert said.

"Roger that." Allen replied.

The pelican left with dust clearing in its path.

The team set out, mongooses trailing dust behind them across the ash covered world, the Scorpion was just keeping behind the team.

It was not until they came across a strange hole in the ground.

"You see that?" Allen asked.

"Yeah I see it that must be some kind of burrow, but what would want to burrow out here?"

"Don't know and I don't like it."

As they got closer, a strange shuffling sound and then a group of arachnid like aliens popped forwards from the ground, spitting acid from their mouths the aliens began to attack.

"Look out, evasive actions."

The scorpion reared off in the opposite direction, and then began firing its main gun at the aliens.

"We've got hostiles."

XXXXX

VOTE

So the now we have a special guest, who do you think it might be?

We also now get to choose what Serina wears, so what should her next outfit be?

Things are going bad for Shepard, how should the romance talks between Ash and Liara end?

Any possible suggestions would be appreciated

There is also a need for a twist, but that might already happen with our special guest.

XXXXX

Rewrite will be done soon after my first assessment tasks are completed; we have a shit load of work here.


	24. Chapter 21

24

HERE IS THE SPECIAL VOTE

AND OUR GUESTS ARE HERE!

DOWN THE BOTTOM!

And for those who wanted Ashley as the angry xenophobic

Normandy

"Hey Daniel next time we land in a pit full of zombies and killer plants please give me a heads up, I'd like to activate the CIWS, at least then we wouldn't have to deal with as many."

"Yeah Joker, I'll give you the heads up, if you can keep your eye on the trigger, by the way, we've got dinner later, we might try something new."

"Ooh, I want a milkshake with a quarter pounder; you know I'm on a mission of my own."

"I'll think about it Joker."

Daniel walked along the deck to the elevator, taking it down to the quarters, when it opened up.

'BLAM'

A solid box of tools made contact with his face.

"By the goddess, my apologies Daniel I did not see you." Liara said, her biotic powers subsiding as she looked at him.

"See I told you can't do it." Ash said with restrained arms from Shepard.

Half of the crew was down there watching the spectacle; Shepard was trying to deal with both of her lovers.

"Ash, Liara that's enough." She said with her biotic powers about to erupt.

The three went back to her room to talk about their issues.

Tali came over to Daniel.

"Oh keelah Daniel are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just fine, just didn't expect to find out that boxes could fly." He joked.

The two moved out of the elevator to their room, just opening the door they realised that they had stumbled into a… colourful situation.

"Tali why is the room red and gold and also covered in rugs?"

And what he meant was the vast amount of coloured rugs and sterilised carpeting and such that now covered half the room, the other half was mostly where all his work things and wardrobes were.

The bed was beautifully casted in red and deep margent as well as gold covered linings and patterns.

If he had been as general as possible it looked more like a gypsy like home, with the exception to old and antiquated objects.

He decided not to ask; just walk with his shoes off, the funny thing was that they also had a bio-filter in the doorway, and the shoe case for all to place their footwear.

"As you know I thought a more home touch would have been nice, and also the auto-filter so we didn't have to wait as long to decontaminate."

"Yes I can understand that, but why is my room red and gold?"

"I thought a warmer look might have been better, so I put what suited me and you, a nice and more vibrant room would surely make a more definite and homier look."

"Okay, that's alright, it looks fine." He said looking at the at least more distinguishable patterns on the walls, drapes and such were hanging with a simple pattern and the display on the wall was now of a beautiful view of the African savannah.

He decided to get some things out of his room; he just needed to locate a tool box and some spare equipment for Tali's new suit, and Liara.

"Morning honey… what the heck happened here?" Vinaya said walking out of her system pod.

"Oh, just Tali wanting to renovate, I like it." He said.

"Then you must have serious issues since changing, I honestly dislike this, I want to formally protest for her to change our room back to the wonderful and clean white and black modern, not a peasant look from two centuries back." She said candidly, she didn't even say Tali's name or even recognised her.

"You Bosh'tet, how come every time I'm with him, you go out of your way to ruin my day." Tali said fuming, if Daniel was anymore sure that something was going to end up with a hole in it.

"Now both of you calm down, I'm sure that we can be re…" 'CRASH'

The two were at it; Tali crashed into Vinaya and started pulling her synthetic hair out, while she began trying to reverse her position.

Fast forwards a few minutes later…

After being scratched and punched and bruised by the two lovers of his life, or just one, Daniel boiled things down to one end.

"So we ask the crew for their opinion?" Tali asked.

"More or less, we could ask some for a new scheme it works either way, we have the plain room or yours or some other scheme."

"That seems fair." Vinaya said.

XXXXX

(VOTE or VETO)

You choose the design and the colour scheme!

Or

Option 1: Tali style

Option 2: Modern Vinaya

Option 3: Daniel plain

XXXXX

Anders sat on the bench next to the FTL core, it was nearing completion, a few more days until it's fully prepped and ready for test, she had been engrossed with also the prothean side of things, but she only found out as much as Liara, she was still off on the whole reaper issue.

Setting another panel down she began testing the field integrity of the slip-space core, she hoped that the AI on the Normandy could handle a more practical device rather than theoretical.

She had been working for a few days and was nearly exhausted, she yawned and sat up, and sliding of the bench she decided to get something to eat.

Walking out she bumped into something warm.

"Oh, sorry Garrus, I didn't see you there." She said being helped up by the ex-sec officer.

"No it's my fault, I should have watched my step, I was just about to go into the workshop anyway, Daniels DMRs are good, but I wanted to tune it up a bit." He said hefting the case of the rifles.

"Well, okay, I was just heading over to get something to eat." She said walking towards the cafeteria.

"Umm, it's five in the morning." He said pointing at the holographic clock on the wall; breakfast didn't start until 6:45AM.

"Well then it looks like another set of coffees for me, how about you?" She asked the turian nicely.

"I don't know, I'm probably going for a bit of caffeine later, but that's when I'm not busy patching up. Well I guess I could go for a nice drink anyway." He said putting the cases to the side, he followed after her.

Anders grabbed her cup of latte, and Garrus chose something from his own range of dietary needs.

They went to a two seated table on the far corner of the room, sitting down they enjoyed their refreshments.

"So, Garrus, how have you been?" She asked.

"I've been well, just doing the usual thing I'd do with the exception of patrolling streets and keeping an eye for troublemakers and such." He said.

"Getting used to the change of lifestyle?" She asked sipping her drink.

"Yeah, Daniel is one to show anyone that the job can get done, so when I joined I enjoyed Daniels company, he's more than just another solider, he's the best human I've seen."

"For a Spartan, he's more open, I wonder what made him change."

"Maybe it's just looking for more than just the life of a soldier, or it might be Tali."

"Tali, you mean the quarian?" She asked.

"Yeah, the two have been at it for a while, they love each other, he just wanted to find something more, something worth fighting for, and he has, at least for him and so he just wanted to be happy, I'm sure the two will be happy with each other." Garrus said.

"Well I'm sure they will." She sighed; Anders had never had time for a person in her life either than her parents, though she doubted she'd ever be able to speak to her father for a long time.

"So anyone in your life you keep close?" Anders asked.

"My family, I have a brother back at home, and a mother, but she's ill, dad's still around but having to deal with this."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." She said.

"It's alright; she just needs some treatment at a facility in Palaven, but Daniel offered a special treatment at Nova Corp, it's said to be over a 90% success rate, seeing as it uses the gene therapy used in your universe."

"Then I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Yeah well dad doesn't think so, saying that humanity still has a long way before he could trust them, but I tried explaining that there was more chance than sitting around."

"So I guess it might happen?"

"Soon hopefully, mum doesn't need this on top of everything."

The two continued drinking and talking, enjoying their time together, and enjoying each-others company.

XXXXX

Here's OUR SPECIAL GUESTS…

"Hey Daniel, Shepard, it's great to see you guys!" Conrad said.

"Oh, good god, not this guy." Shepard said.

"Conrad, how the hell did you get on the Spirit?" Daniel asked.

Serina explained over the com. "We found him on Tyr; he had somehow wanted to prove himself and ended up getting shot, and now he needs your help."

"That's right, during my trips a few weeks before, after being mauled by an asari cat, I stumbled upon a batarian plot to destroy Terra Nova, but I don't know when the plan is going into action, I need your help to bring them down."

The crew seemed to freeze at the proposition, how in the universe Conrad Verner had stumbled upon such a plot was beyond them.

"So are you sure that your data is correct?"

Dot appeared.

"I have checked over communications in the traverse to the terminus systems, there are significant pointers between an extremist groups under the leadership of a batarian slaver named Charom."

"So we need to stop this attack how?" Daniel asked.

"Easy, they have some kind of fleet on approach with a plan to attack the capital, but Serina came up with a brilliant plan." He said.

Serina walked in, she was dressed in her favourite set of clothes, a black pants and white blouse, and she also had some nice silver earrings and a pair of black heels.

"So I guess you used Vinaya's spare unit?" Daniel said.

"Yes it was nice of her to let me borrow." Serina replied hastily.

At that point Vinaya appeared to say.

"I didn't let you borrow; you took the spare when I was drunk."

"Well too late now."

Serina pulled out a holographic projector and brought out an image of a four eyed red armoured being.

"This is Charom, the very batarian we are looking for, he is currently on a world called Toa' Eve, somewhere deep in the traverse, it is one of the seedier places to visit, and the perfect place for hiding someone."

"So we need to find him in that mess?"

"Not necessarily, a recent event on Terra Nova is to soon happen, and a number of species and people will be visiting, a perfect means of sneaking in a scouting team, Charom will be personally seeing the crippling of the city."

"And it will leave it open for the pirates?"

"Yes, the only means of getting past the alliance would be to cripple the planet itself."

"So why don't we warn everyone?" Ashley asked, she was covering up for a small bruise on her left arm since her brawl with Liara.

"Because the batarians may panic and pre-emptively strike before we can evacuate."

"So we let everyone stay under threat?"

"No we just let them believe that they might get away, and pull the carpet from underneath them."

"So we spring a trap on the trap?" Conrad asked.

"If so simplified, then yes, we just trick those idiots."

"So what's the plan?" Shepard asked.

"We need to find Charom and his little surprise on Terra Nova and stop him, and then when the batarians attack, the Spirit and the alliance will spring into action and strike them from behind."

"So we leave the Normandy out of this?" Joker asked sounding disappointed.

"Yes we will, we need the Normandy to be ready for the raid, but in the meantime, it has to stay in dock and wait for Shepard and Daniel, and when we locate Charom we have the Normandy appear, Conrad here also has a contact he needs to meet on the planet." Serina finished.

"Okay let's get to work."

ANOTHER GROUP NEXT

XXXXX

Terra Nova

The Normandy sat in dock, it was still another day until the attack, and they were getting close.

The investigation turned up a few things, a batarian team was on the planet alright, but Charom was still hidden in his lair, with some kind of EMP device.

"A scalar weapon, what the heck is that?" Conrad asked.

"A type of high powered energy based field weapon, it was in the Second World War in the Pacific that the US believed of some super weapon the Japanese made, it was never confirmed but it was said to be capable of crippling the entire US if ever used."

"Whoa, that means it has to be big to affect the entire planet." He said.

"Which is why, we need to find it, and fast." Daniel said.

"Yeah but that's going to take more than just us."

"Which is why we have more than just us, we have some other marines who have experience in dealing with Charom, they were said to be investigating in the traverse sometime before, and had just arrived."

The door hissed opened.

"Sir you called us in?" A dark haired man with the look of years of experience walked in with three of his subordinates.

They each introduced each other.

"Private Preston Marlowe, Sir." Preston said, he was staring at the super solider as though he was his hero.

"Private Terrance "Sweets" Sweetwater, it's an honor to meet you sir." He said to Daniel.

"Private George "Hags" Haggard Junior, Sir, I take my hat off to you sir, that explosive exit on Tyr was more than I've seen at the hands of an officer." He said shaking Daniels hand.

"Sergeant Samuel "Sarge" Redford, I'm commander of B Company, Sir." He said saluting.

"Good to meet you all." Daniel said.

"So you're here to help us take down the batarian pirate?"

"Yeah, we almost got him before but alliance command ordered us to stand down." Hags said.

"Well you could've hit the bomb, and we don't know what might've happened." Sweets said.

"At least we have hippie boy to thank for getting us out of there." Hags added.

"Wait whose hippie?" Shepard asked.

"He's our pilot; I think alliance command shipped him into one of the pelican shuttles now."

"Affirmative, he is currently in the lower hangar bay." Serina said changing the holopad to where he was sitting.

"Wow an android, I never knew command kept you secret." Sweets said looking at Serina.

"Wait how do you know she's an android?" Hags asked.

"The fact that her eyes glow or the palm of her hand is an energy projector."

The B Company decided not to ask anything else after that.

XXXXX

Terra Nova

Capital

Lower shopping mall

"Ha, you think that I wouldn't have known about you and your specialist team here?"

Charom was laughing as the entire team was captured, they had not expected that the batarians had more than just hired muscle, Blue suns and Eclipse mercenaries along with Blood Pact had all joined up.

They were about to rush in anyway until Charom used his cheapskate ability of using hostages, he made them stand down.

"And now Terra Nova will burn along with you on it."

The only one who hadn't been captured was…

"HEY FOUR EYES."

They all turned to see…

"CONRAD THE JACKASS, HAH, I LAUGH AT YOUR PITIFUL ATTEMPTS."

"Oh yeah, well I still got this."

He pulled out the rope attached to the ceiling that was used to winch in the scalar device, he swung down.

In one epic move he… over shot, hitting the giant mock-up of Godzilla instead and falling on the controls, the machine came to life firing out fire and lights and began chasing the mercenaries.

An asari said. "Run, it's Godzilla!"

Another stopped to give a little information.

"It looks like Godzilla but due to interstellar copyright laws it is not."

"But still we should run like it is Godzilla."

"No it isn't."

"AHHH" They both screamed running for the auto exit.

The auto driver kept moving and chasing the mercs who couldn't penetrate the outer layer of the thick armour, they packed into the stairs; Conrad jolted the controls by accident to manual and ran the machine into, the scalar.

The creaking sound and breaking metal was enough to tell anyone to run, the machine crashed on the other side, and the auto signal for the fleet was sent.

"No all my work, all in ruins."

Conrad flung out the window of the Godzilla machine and landed on Charom.

Two sounds of breaking bones and severe PWNAGE, meant either both or just one of them was dead.

Conrad had survived, because he was needed for another story later, so we will never talk about this again.

"Okay no more saving the world for me." Conrad said being taken away in a stretcher.

"Yeah just don't come back at all, have a nice recovery." Shepard said.

Daniel was busy releasing the hostages and B Company was getting some shots in before the end of the day, they were expected to be transferred to the Spirit in another day or two for their efforts.

"So who's taking credit for this?" The councillors asked Udina and Anderson.

"We honestly don't know, it would probably be the one who saved the colony."

XXXXX

"Mr Verner, is it true that you've began a film production of your heroic efforts on Terra Nova?" An asari reporter asked.

"Yes, I wanted to thank all of those who helped me save the colony, I can't take all the credit and besides, it was good."

"So, what is the film title?" A turian asked.

"It's called it, Man of Action, and it will be available on the twenty fifth of the twelfth."

XXXXX

NOVA CORP FILMS PRESENTS: MAN OF ACTION

Based on the true story

Conrad Verner the average man, the everyday man who loves his family and likes, but his life is changed when he's talks to the first human Spectre, he's wants to be good, but is shot down, and sent on his way.

He now drives to prove himself that anything can be done, as the MAN OF ACTION

Coming this Christmas

XXXXX

LOL

HERE IT IS!

AND I HOPE YOU GUYS VOTED

We also have a space for another vote

VOTE

Conrad is coming into his own series based on what happened here, you can read them later

He is going to appear in some reference in the two year gap when Shepard dies

He will be back in ME2

You can choose whether or not he is going to be in ME3.

We will have cross overs with DEUS EX MACHINA

XXXXX

RVB is next, where is Lopez

And where is Church and why is Wyoming alive?

We will also see the return of DUM DUM DUM….

Will not tell you yet


	25. Chapter 22

CH25

Just Cause… I can

(Well because no one bloody voted, I have to go default, I have no idea why no one is saying anything, but yeah I have to go on a straight line until someone decides to properly vote for something.)

Thanks to the person who did vote for the room colour

VOTE is at bottom

Not all choices are actually matter they are just there for use, if you wish for your own decision then please message or review

BTW: Another series of stories is in production: But they will only be in previews, OVAs just short stories for now.

First off is: WoW/My AU HALO/ME

I note that this series is going to be based in the future of Ascension and Revelations, so please be careful when reading… I don't want to say I told you so or I warned you or something like that.

"2711 more than a hundred years after the Reaper War, the galaxy still recovers from its wounds, the Unified Galactic Alliance has begun to finally clear the remnants of the Reapers and their abomination upon the galaxy.

The fleet of weary ships chase a small pocket out into the Delta Sirius Sector where they encounter a world of magic and mystery, in this world humanity is not as it seems, and the gods affront the powers of the Forerunners.

But the plagues that ravage the worlds now meet the burning flames of light, as the Forerunners meet their gods, and bring a dawn of fire and war from the heavens; the people of Azeroth now meet the stars.

And now they must overcome the greatest of challenges, evolving."

This series will start… soon.

Get ready for War!

The other series is following Seed Effect, and this series will be following Celestial Being after the war and into the future of CE: 183

So there maybe spoilers

Next series: Noble: Till Death and Redemption…

Which essentially follows the aftermath of REACH, and what happens if the Noble team find themselves in the ME universe? In this one everyone is alive, but there will be a bit of a change…

Another series will follow

Next item is

Another series is Gundam/…

Well I have no clue. Which is why I would like all of you to choose, but the time line maybe based on some previous work.

I did have a WH40K series that was in production nearly 3 years ago but I cancelled it, for good reasons I have no F*** idea how I could possibly follow and break some rules or the sheer amount of things I needed to follow just to start the damned thing up. So I will be posting a past work up, it will be rather sad not grim, just sad…

And to all my FMA and ME fans, I am sorry to put you guys down, but the series will be closing, for now, ZERO was just a production series coming out to follow Ed and Al in the ME universe and will sadly be postponed period for as long as the other series consume time.

2:

XXXXX

Terra Nova

Orbit

Spirit of Fire

Hangar Bay

Shepard had been aboard the Spirit after their successful plan to rescue it from the pirates, she and most of the crew was taking a day off, the Normandy was parked inside the Spirit for the day, and there wasn't much damage on the ground, so the personnel were free to rest for the day.

Except the few sent on assignments across the traverse, they had very important missions to accomplish, and they had many other jobs to do for the Nova Corp.

Normandy

Daniels room

Plain standard colours flowed across the room, it looked like it had the first time he had this room, it looked normally good, black and steel grey, it had the picture of Reach in the display once more, and the repaint of the floor tiles.

"So who's responsible for this, because I will personally kill them?" Vinaya said she was more than annoyed for the sudden change in plan.

"Well it wasn't me, and it wasn't Tali." Daniel explained.

"Well can we take another vote at this?" She asked.

"No not for a while, I just got used to the change." Daniel said.

"So what's our next destination?"

"Terra Nova, down town, shopping district, I thought we might go looking for something nice." Daniel said smiling.

"Finally, you decided to get me that swimsuit?" Vinaya asked.

An awkward silence, until Daniel said.

"NO. I wanted to get something for Tali, and a gift for Serina, it's her birthday soon."

"Wait she has a birthday?"

"Yeah it's on the 30th, and I thought it would be nice to get her something."

"Wait what about mine?"

"You were created on the 12th of January, three years ago; your birthday isn't for another two months."

"Aw, I wanted a new data drive or something slightly comfortable than this dress, I was thinking maybe a two piece outfit."

"Not today." Daniel said.

XXXXX

Lower Hangar bay

"So where are we going again?" Ashley asked Shepard.

She and Liara were both stuffed inside of a shuttle with Tali and Daniel and Vinaya.

"We're going shopping." She said.

"What?" Ash asked confused.

"We were going to go for some drinks with the crew, but decided we might just go for a nice day out, which is why we're in our normal clothes, that and Red team is going with Jorge and Virana in another shuttle because they take up more space than a warthog fully packed." Shepard said.

"So what do asari usually shop for?" Ash asked.

"Whatever any female would, but that depends on what we may need, I usually never spend much money or time on anything, so this is quite new to me."

"Well maybe we should get you a book on how to not steal another partner's love life." Ash said accusingly.

"I have explained that I love Shepard as much as you do." Liara said defensively.

"Ladies I think I might add I'm still in the shuttle, and I thought we came to an agreement." Shepard said annoyed.

The two shut up, and waited for them to land.

"So Vinaya, what are you going to look for?" Daniel asked.

"That would probably depend, if they have a two piece or a new dress." She said.

"By the way you never told me what you were getting Tali." Vinaya asked.

"That is just between us Vinaya." Tali said holding herself close to Daniel.

The shuttle cleared the landing pad, setting down carefully let its passengers disembark, the six of them stretched a bit before heading off.

The Terra Nova shopping malls were beautifully made and quite a sight, they were massive inside and looked even bigger outside.

"So where do we start?" Shepard asked her trio.

"I say maybe the workout range down on level three I hear they have a special today."

"I would like to agree, but maybe something relaxing first, the second level has a book sale on new theory of Prothean exobiology and also a theory to a recent discovery in the Omega cluster about a discovery."

Just then the two started staring at each other; Shepard knew that this was not going to be a very good day.

Daniel was having some interesting time; he was choosing some outfits for Tali, including some underwear, which he might add was a bit harder to choose than one would think.

"White lace or black, I'm not too sure." She said inside the decontamination cubicle.

"I think white, it blends nicely, and it usually is quite nice looking." He said.

The reason for her changing was because her health was definitely improving, her gene enhancements for adaptation into environments had dramatically improved, though she still could catch a small fever if she was outside.

"So, what do we look for next?" She asked.

"Well I was thinking a nice dress for tonight, you know, a dress."

"What, but I think that might be a bit exquisite, you already given me some nice things, I don't know." She said.

"It was just a choice, a dress might be nice, and I just wanted to show the galaxy the one I love."

Daniel knew she was probably blushing inside the cubicle.

"Umm… okay, I can't help being interested anyway." She laughed.

So a few minutes later, after talking to the human dress maker, who had at first been reluctant for dressing a quarian, learnt that he should not be offensive to the human spectre, decided he would measure her.

"Wow, I mean it looks wonderful." Tali said, the long dress reached her feet, the colour was red and gold it looked like as though it should belong to a model.

"Well I am here to please." Daniel said.

She turned about, her clothes were a two piece set, it had fabric straps that ran from back to front and covered her in a warm long sleeve shirt along with a long skirt, and she also had a headdress that was much like her suits except that it was the same colour as the dress.

"I mean wow, Tali, it looks beautiful." Shepard said, she and Daniel met after they had gone and done their shopping.

Liara and Ash were still at each other's throats, but they were both happy to be with Daniel and Tali, they were both surprised to actually see Tali's face.

"So now where do we go?" Tali asked.

"I think we should meet up with Jorge and the others in the central square besides, we do need to make sure they are alright."

Shepard knew what he meant.

XXXXX

While walking to the central square, the group was noticed more and more because of Tali and of course Daniel, the news over the extranet was about the salvation of the colony but also the relationship between him and her.

"As the rumours are confirmed with the galactic community as to the relationship between the human spectre Daniel and quarian mechanic Tali Zorah, the community galaxy watches out for the two most recent item, and hope they have a long lived relationship." The news report said.

Daniel felt as though he was being watched, more so because he was a Spartan but also because of Tali being at his side, he loved her but also needed to make sure she was safe, he did act like he was walking and everything was normal, but he kept his eye out.

Tali stayed close to him, more or less she was holding his left arm, but the sights from people all around was mixed, some asari were gossiping as they walked by and a group of people had a mixed opinion as to their relationship.

His enhanced hearing also picked up on some talk not far away, a group of people… Terra Firma, they were all staring as he walked by.

"Don't pay any attention to them." Shepard said.

"I'm trying not to, but they seem to have something against Tali, and that I won't stand for." He said defensively.

"Yeah but don't provoke them, it would only rile them up to act, and the first human spectres aren't supposed to pick fights." She said.

"Yeah but I think as an individual, we should at least have our happiness to ourselves not being criticised by others, for accepting those different."

The rest of the walk was interesting amounts of glances or nothing; they watched the skyline and the amount of vehicles zipping past.

XXXXX

Finally arriving at the central square, Daniel looked out for the Spartans, but he did notice something, a very large crowd gathered at the central point, exactly where he was expected to meet them.

"That doesn't look to good." Shepard said as they approached the very large crowd.

A few shouts of and jeers and the sound of blows being traded was enough to tell them that there was a fight in progress.

Shepard and Daniel used their spectre statuses to cut through the crowd, and once finally clearing enough space, they found themselves ducking…

'OUGH'

A turian went flying overhead, his face was covered in blood, and in the circle gathered a small group of turians were cowering as the three Spartans faced them down, their leader just thrown out of the circle.

"Now if you don't mind me saying this again, don't try to pick on the kids." Jorge said.

A group of teenaged humans who had decided to pick a fight with the turians were also there but they were scared, most likely the Spartans decided to warn them about fighting.

"Now scram." Jorge said.

The turians bolted their way out of the fight; the teens were waiting as the local police decided to record this.

Shepard and Daniel decided to ask.

"What happened?" Shepard gestured to the whole crowd.

Jorge replied. "Nothing much, local rabble and something to do with non-humans, kids decided they could take on the whole turian campus."

"And you made sure that this wouldn't happen again?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah we made sure they didn't try that anytime soon."

The group walked along the central square, they headed to a café not far from where they were

"So how was the trip?" Daniel asked.

"It's good to get out of the ship, Jerome and the others are still not fully used to aliens and have been trying to deal with it as much as possible, the fight was refreshing."

Daniel asked. "So, who's up for lunch?"

They all went inside the café they were waiting outside of.

It was surprising to say at the least, a quarian, two asari, five super soldiers, and two marines and an android walked into a café.

Sitting down on their seats, with the fact that red team had no armour but needed to get reinforced seats none the less, sat down together at one long table.

"What are we each having?" Shepard asked.

"Tali will have a nutrient paste and I'll just have a soup." Daniel said for the two.

"Liara and Ash and I will be having, a burger and milkshake, a salad, and a egg sandwich." Shepard said taking count for her two lovers.

"Wait, where is Kaiden?" Liara asked.

"He decided to stay on the ship after some migraines." Shepard explained.

"Oh, well hopefully he recovers." She said optimistically.

XXXXX

A talk of their next mission was interesting; they had planned to continue looking on Noveria, and stop Benezia, Liara was of course unsure to her mother's condition, indoctrination was not something simple, it was a threat that they needed to be safe from.

Vinaya suggested they use neural implants and use a low psionic field projector and use it to protect their minds from being controlled, though it did have merits, they needed to see the effects properly, Daniel was sure of one thing though, a way to defeat the reapers using something similar based on UNSC tech.

He had already sent a message to Nova Corp and a few other private corporations to help in some new weapon development. He hoped to get new tech upgraded into all alliance vessels by the end of the fiscal year.

"So when do we leave?" Alice asked, she had been itching for their next battle, seeing as she missed out on their last mission.

"We can't the crew needs a bit of a break, we have to scour an entire star cluster soon, and it won't be easy."

She sighed. "Well it looks like my dreams are dashed."

"Don't worry once we find out where Saren and the conduit is, it'll be a lot more of a challenge." Daniel said.

"I hope to live that long, if you don't mind me saying, Sir." Jerome said humourlessly.

"Don't worry I'm sure you will." Daniel replied.

After having lunch they headed to a cinema, they had a new movie coming out, to be honest it was directed by Vinaya and she also knitted in some things from records of previous combat records of the war.

She called the series: HALO: Evolutions

If there was a bigger breach of ONI and UNSC regulations it had to be this, but then again any record outside was a breach of protocol but she didn't really care, it was in memory of those who died in service, but that dedication was seen as a bit of a harsh reminder to all of them, especially to the SOF.

The film also had a series running alongside it, many people didn't really understand much except the origins and the events after Harvest but everything seemed to get people looking at Daniels universe, everyone was interested in such a universe, especially those who wanted humanity as powerful as the UNSC.

Other species had mixed opinion, such as the salarians who believed after watching the film thought humanity could be as dangerous and driven than entire armies of krogan. The turians believed that this was why humanity should slow down, but then again they also noted that they should watch what they say, or the end result for them would be bad, considering that the HSA was on equal level of technology as them. The asari did not honestly know what to make of what they had seen; they just noted that there was much suffering and despair for what humanity did in their universe.

And in general humans saw the neighbouring universe as one in need of desperate help, and many of the pro-human groups saw that they could use the film to bolster their support, but Vinaya stated all that was recorded was just remade of older records of the war, whatever happened after was long ago.

Tali couldn't help but watch, mystified as the battle of Reach took to the screen, it was the only record that Vinaya managed to patch together with Dot, and it was the accurate version of it, all of the sacrifices made by Noble Team, Tali could only grasp Daniels shoulder as she watched those of his comrades die, though they did die well, except Kat, which kind of made them feel sorry for her death.

Everything the Noble team did was astounding, more so because of how much Daniel did before his world was destroyed.

Tali grasped his shoulder tighter as he was charged by the elites from all sides, the scene blacked out with his helmet on the burning ground; he imagined that Dot and Vinaya wanted him to have hope as it was suddenly narrated by Halsey, and how he saved humanity.

XXXXX

Heading back they enjoyed their final dinner in the same ship before the Normandy and the Spirit departed from orbit and headed in their separate directions.

Though Daniel had a surprise for everyone…

"Karaoke?" He asked.

Everyone had no idea how to sign, but Shepard did and so did half the other part of their crew.

So everyone wanted to enjoy the moment, singing and dancing followed, and everyone enjoyed the night.

Tali and Daniel did a duet on: savage garden - Truly madly deeply

And then everyone else, Jorge and Virana was so upbeat they just sang a good melody of country rock: Sweet Home Alabama.

And then there was the only single singer Liara who decided for a Japanese song from a long time ago: Do you remember love?

(I love macross F)

The entire team was dancing to: Dancing in the moonlight.

A few hours later…

Daniel woke to find himself with the entire crew all in a drunken stupor; it was hard to imagine that everyone had managed to fall asleep, though it was only just the team.

Tali, was crawled up to him, and that Joker was resting on Alice's lap…

Looking about he could see that Shepard was piled underneath Liara, Ashley and on top her was Chakwas.

Jorge was happily sleeping next to Viriana, who had decided to rest her head on his shoulders, they were a happy couple.

Jerome was lying next to the coffee maker; he was tired from arm wrestling Wrex while everyone was singing.

While no one could see where the final member of Red team was, it didn't mean anyone couldn't possibly guess.

Dr Anders was resting next to her new partner, Garrus was happily sleeping next to Anders and both were enjoying each other's company.

Snoring followed with Kaiden who decided that in his drunken walk that the table was a nice spot to rest.

"Well looks like I'm going to have to clean up again." Daniel said to no one.

XXXXX

The Normandy left the hangar bay of the Spirit, the engines kicked to life and the ship slid out of dock, turning about the frigate headed to the Charom Relay in a swirl of light, and was gone in a split second.

"Slip-space core holding, no direct drift and we're going pretty fast, this is amazing!" Joker said.

"Well slip-space is a wonder of the universe." Daniel said walking behind.

"Man with this, we can practically go through planets."

"I know which is why we shouldn't be doing that." Daniel deadpanned.

"Okay just saying it out Daniel, no need to rip my head off."

Engine room

Tali was amazed as the engines glowed, the new slip-space drive was amazing, it could open rifts through space and time, which also kind of made her worry if there ever was an accident.

"All looks fine, we should be arriving soon, better finalize checks."

XXXXX

The Normandy was on its way, to hunt down the last bits of the clues and help their friends along the way.

XXXXX

VOTE

Tali has a new dress, can you make your own designs?

If so post them in reviews or message me so that I can put it up for vote.

The Bad Company team is coming along for the final ride, should we see how they are doing in the last chapter segment or should we just have filler later on?

Vinaya has only been in this part of the story and so I might make her more interactive soon, I can't really have the only AI OC just sitting inside a shell.

There will be MC and Cortana and Commander Keyes? But they'll be along very soon… I like my surprises

I would like add that the Dawn will be added to the list of vessels now arriving.


	26. What happened

What ever happened to what's his name?

This will be the second last one before we finish at Christmas.

BTW: What would you guys like for Christmas? Choose wisely for the story…

There is a preview at the last story of the up coming series, tell what you think.

BTW the next chapter will be done today!

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Lopez was wondering how the hell he managed to ever get this job, wandering down to the lower holds of the ridiculous large complex of Peak 15 he was forced to help the asari matriarch get the details of the Mu Relay that went missing some time before, or some s***.

But he being there personally was a joke, the geth and his prototype mass produced units were already sufficient enough to deal with bugs, but no, the big honcho ordered him to tag along.

And now he was up to his ass in frigging bug guts, another popping out of a vent was quickly silenced as he pulled out his semi-automatic and sprayed its guts along the length of the room.

'Fuck me, this is not worth all the trouble, if I wanted a robot army I would use all my resources to kick this guy's ass into the floor rather than waste it.' He said to himself in Spanish.

Climbing down a frozen staircase he ended up where the matriarch was interrogating the queen.

'Jeez this old bitch can really hurt people.' He said watching the asari swing a few waves of biotic powers.

XXXXX

Veetor was cleaning the racks of engine parts when he noticed something, Donut was gone, he hadn't noticed it until just now.

Well it was 7:50 and this was the morning tea and pastry day.

Veetor could finally relax, the guy was annoying, and picking up his communicator he called some old friends from the fleet.

XXXXX

Tex was unsure as to the term FUBAR went.

"Let's see now, fucking up our landing, getting caught, breaking the collector's collective nose, or now being slowly put to death by a laser moving at super slug pace?" She said to her fellow captives.

"Okay maybe we might have forgotten about the collectors being here detail." Wash said.

"Well you better start praying, because after this you're going to meet my FIST." She said.

XXXXX

Church cleared another lane, his ship was about to leave, and he had all the help he was going to get, Wyoming revealed a lot of secrets, the director and the mysterious relay plans, he had to find Tex and recover the Archive.

'Damn why can't things ever stay quiet around here?' He thought out loud.

Flying past control he headed straight up, he knew what he had to look for, the base in the Traverse had to be the only place, and he knew what the collectors were after, he wasn't letting them get their hands on Alpha.

XXXXX

"The 'Archive' the final key to the ancients, it is in satisfactory condition, we will accept your arrangement." The collector said, its eyes glowed as it spoke.

"So then I guess all the trouble was worth it?" Tazzik asked.

Tex and the others could only watch as the Alpha was being taken, she knew that it was a creation of the director, but it had all the records of time passed and very important data.

She struggled with her cuffs, she still had something from before, and most of those standing about were about to see what she could do.

'CRACK' she heard, Tex pulled the cuffs apart, waiting for a moment.

"Hey buddy, catch." She said, the cuffs flew at Tazziks face, it hit with enough force to break his nose.

"Ow, you… Oh Shit." He said.

There was Tex with her fists cracking.

"So, who's first?"

"…FIRE!"

A hailstorm of bullets flew through the air, Tex just leapt into the air, landing between the blue suns and the collectors; she bucked everyone who was unfortunate enough to be there.

If there was a record for throwing people into the air, Tex would have the highest score.

"AHHH" 'THUNK'

A legionnaire flew into the hull of the shuttle where the Alpha was, he splattered harder than an egg hitting the floor.

Grabbing another two she smacked their heads in and tossed them into oncoming waves of blue suns.

(Think of the Force Unleashed 2 trailer, you know, hundreds of storm troopers)

She started a pummelling contest, and one that would be the most epic.

A dozen punches and kicks left another two dozen or more crying out in pain, she grabbed and threw another wave of poor mercs into each other and crotch punted the others who were very unfortunate.

"Is that all you've got?" She said picking up and spine cracking a collector.

XXXXX

Tucker watched as relief shuttles arrived to pick up the survivors, he had somehow survived his ordeal.

"So what say we never try that again?" He said to Doc who was patching up the hole in his arm.

"Yeah, I think we should try to avoid plasma fire and missiles, because I think my life expectancy isn't improving."

"Well you should just be thankful you're not in the Navy, I had to pull out so much shrapnel out of my ass already."

After their nice recount they met up with Caboose who seemed to be, 'working'.

"Umm… Caboose, why do you have that Omni tool to your head?" Tucker asked.

"Shhhh, I am trying to listen for Church, there was a strange sound like his voice, and he yelled something to me." Caboose said as discretely as he could, which was more like yelling.

"Right… and I'm sure that Church would appreciate it if he never said anything to you at all, and that you died." Tucker replied sitting on a broken geth.

"TUCKER! Listen to the idiot, I'm calling you guys over a long range com buoy, we've got trouble heading our way, Tex managed to get captured and we need to help her ASAP." The old radio in Cabooses armour screamed.

"What the fuck? How in hell did you manage to get Caboose to listen, he can't pay attention to a fucking thimble if he was tied to a chair looking at it?" Tucker asked.

"That is the miracle of being a part AI, so get the fuck up, and listen. The collectors are some weird bug eyed pieces of turd that are trying to kill us all, and all I know is that they're after Tex who had something they want." He replied angrily.

"Well good for her, I'm a marine who just graduated and I'm stationed on Tyr for another month."

"When the hell did that happen?"

"Last week."

"Well could you at least act seriously?"

"NO."

"Fuck you to."

"Well we need to help Tex one way or the other, so do I have to go over there and fucking pummel your head in?"

"…Aw fuck, fine, I'll go fucking help." He said getting up.

"Good to hear, meet us at these coordinates."

XXXXX

"Mr Verner there is an asari who would like to see you. Her name if Liara T'soni." His attendant said.

"Oh, yes I remember her, one of Shepard's old friends." He said moving to the door.

Upon opening it he welcomed. "Liara, how good it's to see you, nearly three months."

The asari simply smiled back and said. "Yes… it is good to see you well to. Look I came here about something about the shadow broker." She said.

"Of course come in, give me the OSD." He asked.

Upon examining the data he noticed how much things had changed since the death of the Normandy, and the loss of Shepard. "Well this is interesting, some time ago in my operations in Tyr it mentioned something about this, as well as Illium there was a mention of something to do about the broker."

"Which is why I came here, there might be a chance that Shepard is still alive, and I want your help."

"I don't know, it's been a while since the… you know, and… well I'll do it." He said confidently.

"Thank you, but we might need help."

"You're absolutely right, we need to start somewhere, and I think I know where." He said.

XXXXX

This is the preview for the next series

Halo X Mass Effect: The Dog Days

It will be covering the two year gap between the death of the Normandy and of the two greatest heroes, get ready; I'll get things done before Christmas.


	27. Chapter 23

CH26

But whatever, I need to get my Christmas specials on the way, and fast, so I will be completing the series for all, but VOTE won't be back till the 29th chapter.

Go to the bottom for update!

Sorry for my absence I was, kind of dead.

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I'm not dead yet…

Daniel ran about the Normandy preparing for the mission to Noveria, from what he had read, the place was tight lipped about everything it had, the corporations were highly secretive, and that was one of the main reasons he never set up a business there.

His first meeting was with Tali, in which she had just returned from a mission with Garrus and Jorge, they were investigating a series of reports about geth in the Voyager cluster and discovered a staging ground.

The battles the team participated in were short and fast, but they were dealt with, under high pressure and they were completed, with the exception that the Ballista being nearly in ruins. That said he had needed to get back to work on the tank, and then the pelican.

Walking to engineering he went to talk to Tali who had a certain issue to pick with him about, upon the doors opening he walked over to her work console.

"Tali, was there something you needed to see me about?" He asked.

"Daniel, yes, the data that Jorge gathered on the mission, I wanted to ask you, could I please have a copy?" She asked.

"Wait is this for your pilgrimage?"

"Yes…" She said guiltily.

"Ah, well I don't know, command might not think that it's really that time to be giving data away like that." He said.

"Please, it's just for me." She said with her puppy eyes.

"Oh not that again, since you didn't need your suit, you've been doing that to me at every corner… Ah fine!" He said defeated.

"Thank you so much!" She said cheerily.

"But I get to choose tonight's film." He said.

"Okay, just nothing to wake the dead."

XXXXX

After another defeated talk at the hands of his beloved, he decided he needed to head to the CIC; Joker had been having issues with Vinaya, again.

Along the way Daniel had to admit to how aesthetic the ship looked, it seemed to gleam at every bulkhead, then again this was Vinaya's idea of being perfect, and clean. Though that also meant no to any aliens, which to him was just racist.

'She can crack a billion coded covenant systems, yet she can't even handle being a human? How ironic is that?' He thought to himself.

Walking to the second level he walked about to see Kaiden for a bit. The mess hall was empty as usual, though it was nearly lunch so it did raise the question. "Kaiden, where is everybody?" He asked.

The sentinel turned around from his work bench, and replied with a salute. "No idea sir, I thought that they'd be down by lunch, if everyone isn't here yet, they're probably still at their posts."

"Okay logical enough, have you seen the commander?"

"No, though I hear that she's meeting with Liara, they've needed some time alone."

"I see, then what about Garrus?"

"He's busy, with Anders, sir." He said uncomfortably.

"Okay then I do not want to know the details. By the way, on an off the record, how do you think our mission is progressing?"

"To be frank, I think were almost at the end of the road, it seems we're getting somewhere, but it's taken this long, I just hope we make it sir."

"Duly noted lieutenant, I hope so to." He said before leaving with a salute.

Heading about the second floor of the ship he decided to see Dot, she always gave him an update on any other current situations. Walking to the room, he entered as the AI was compiling data for the long haul to Noveria.

"Dot, do you have a minute?" Daniel asked.

"Yes Six, I have just finished recalibrating the weapons systems."

"Why did you call me Six?"

"There was an unknown error in processor two five nine, readjusting and realigning."

"Well then I hope that works out, listen, I wanted to ask you, on a non-formal situation update, I would like to know about any news between us and the Spirit."

"My search of any news between us has not been sufficient, and as such there is little to report. Serina has been casually walking about in her body and has liked the new clothes you ordered for her, while at the same time keeping herself close to Nihlus.

The Spirit itself has been dealing with many geth threats along the Attican Traverse; their special team has been dispatched to deal with many reports, and will return soon. Admiral Khahoku has been reported missing by them and will be investigating soon." She finished.

"Thanks Dot." He said before leaving.

The walk back through to the mess hall was different, more people had arrived for lunch and were gathering about, but it remained almost empty. He didn't bother to pay attention and headed to his room, he could only wonder how the next mission was to go.

Gathering his gear and MKV, he headed back to the CIC, fully suited he checked on their approach time.

"Joker, how much longer till we arrive?" He asked.

"Not long, though I have to say. Why the hell is Vinaya trying to pull apart my chair?" He asked with the sound of scratching.

"How about the fact, that there's a crossed line here to my room?" She replied.

Well hurry up and fix it, we've got a drop in at 20 and I need to get ready for the mission." Daniel said.

"Good because I'm going to."

"What?"

"Daniel, I never get to participate, and besides, we're going to need me for this mission, there are a lot of things going on."

"And how would you know about that?" He asked.

"Because Nova Corp just called me in about an accident at Peak 15, and also a Synthetics Insight operations with Geth have gone horribly wrong."

"No big surprises there." He said.

"No, but there is, those geth were under reconstruction orders and were to be then moved to a testing facility. But an inspector found the place not to be testing the geth, they're making them."

That news caught Daniels ears fast.

"When did this occur?"

"About a week in advance, they had a whole panel down there to over view the situation but it's revealed nothing more than a certain spectre was involved."

"So looks like Saren's been busy?"

"More or less, the workers say that there's another nine of those places in the galaxy, HSAs been trying to break the system lock and want me to get down there."

"So I see do you have a combat suit?"

"Don't need one, I'm part machine, and the benefit of installing a shield generator is handy."

"Well finish up soon, and get ready, once we're on the ground there's no telling how much more preparation we're going to need."

"I hear that."

XXXXX

Another 2 hours since the ship was in slip-space they arrived at their destination, the ship flew over the open expanse above the world of Noveria, Daniel looked about to listen in on the control as they approached the world.

"Joker, how are we doing on time?"

"Not bad, seeing as the asshole of an operator can't even guide a ship down properly."

"You'll get used to the weather. Jorge you ready?" He asked the team behind him.

"We're ready; Douglas is getting the pelican ready for drop with the Ballista and Alice in on gunner. Team three with Garrus and Anders are done, so all we need to do is land." He said checking his machine gun.

The ship came about and docked with the port, Daniel and Shepard along with the two teams walked out of the hatch. Tali and Jorge with Daniel, and Shepard with Liara and Ashley, walked from the hatch of the ship to the cold space port of Noveria. Garrus and Wrex with Kaiden and Virana and Red team were stationed aboard the ship, just in case and Vinaya who had already left in a shuttle.

"Well isn't this a nice welcome?" Daniel said walking in the cold.

"Don't worry Spartan, your armour will hold against the cold, besides we can hit planets with the force of MACs and be fine." Jorge said optimistically.

"I know, just that I have a bad feeling about being here." Daniel replied.

They walked through the cold port, it was nearly freezing for them, but thankfully their suits could withstand the elements, and the pressure. Daniel looked about the rectangular port; it had been partially carved into the rock of this mountain complex. Its illumination was limited and very dull; he couldn't believe anyone would want to live here.

About to turn the corner they were confronted by the guards. "Hold it, I must ask you to relinquish your weapons." A blond haired woman asked him.

"And who might you be?"

"Sergeant Kaira Stirling Elanus Risk Control services."

"And I'm special tactics and recon Daniels 312. And spectre Shepard."

A pause was followed by the Captain Matsuo who decided to wait for confirmation.

"Sergeant, stand down, their identities match and spectres are allowed fire arms at all time." She said.

The figures stood down and Matsuo greeted them. "Captain **Maeko Matsuo head of Port Hanshan Security. Greetings to both of you spectres."**

"Glad to be on the same level Captain, we just arrived."

"My apologies to the set of security protocols, just head to the lobby, Parasini-san will allow you in." She said.

With a nod the two teams headed in to the port, though a certain officer continued to keep her eye on them, Daniel felt as though he could tell that this version of humanity hadn't heard of proper restraint or control of personnel.

Upon reached the top floor they ran into alarms, all of them stopped to be apologised by the woman at the front desk. "Sorry, the system just tripped."

"No problem, you Gianna Parasini?"

"Yes, and I should say welcome to Novereia." She replied.

"Thank you, I must ask, but has an asari matriarch pass through here recently?"

"Oh you mean Lady Benezia? She came through a week ago, she and her escorts along with a brown armoured figure, about your height." She described.

Daniel could tell who it was straight away, the missing person of the blood gulch group. He knew that the machine was still up and running.

"Ah then that must definitely mean that she's here. Please wait a moment." He said before turning to the team.

"Well she's here, and she's brought an entire army with her."

That sentence seemed to make them freeze on the spot.

"How do you know Benezia has an army here?"

"Because the attendant just told me a brown armoured figure came through here, and if memory serves me well, the blood gulch team told me that a heavily armoured robot of theirs who got sick of them created an army to kill them. And it still has the schematics, it will either mean we're about to have a Mexican fiesta with robots, or the heaviest slug out with a bunch of Mexicans."

"Let me guess they brought their relatives as well?"

"All of them."

"Wow this is so racist." Ash said.

"No kidding, but really Lopez can pack an army into his under arms, and he probably has."

Liara decided to interject. "So my mother is here?"

"Yes, I just said that, she's here with a Mexican robot wrestling army." Daniel said sarcastically.

"You know that's just mean." Liara replied.

"Just kidding, so why don't we just head on through, I trust you as far as I can possibly throw you, metaphorically speaking, which is quite far, so let's just go." He said.

"Sounds like a plan." Ash said.

Heading through the lobby they reached the same dull coloured structure of the complex, just with a large window outside looking into the massive blizzard outside with nothing but white. Daniel checked about with the news, there seemed to be a massive blizzard that wouldn't be passing over for a few days. They needed to reach the Peak 15 complex before then, Shepard suggested they should speak with Administrator Anoleis and get some kind of permission.

After arriving at the doorway they were greeted by Gianna once again, and this time for Daniel he decided to stay out of the room and let Shepard deal with the administrator, though her talks didn't last long. She walked out with a defeated and more concerned face.

"We got problems; the admin won't let us through, to busy playing with himself at his desk. So we're out of options, we need another way through this." She said.

"You could ask the manager of synthetic insights Lorik Qui'in, he should be in the bar in the port." Gianna said.

"Hmm that doesn't sound suspicious at all, let's go do that." Daniel said stoically.

"Your being an asshole and I only offered it." Gianna retorted.

"I was making an impression of someone who'd be ignorant about their surroundings. You shouldn't hide things from a spartan." He said.

"Fine, I'm part of the investigation into corruption charges for Anoleis, you need to talk to Lorik and get him to appeal. If you do that then meet me at the lounge afterwards." She whispered.

"That's a better deal, fine we'll meet there when we're done."

XXXXX

"Well that went well." Shepard said cleaning off blood on her armor.

The set of events as told went:

1 After talking to Lorik Qui'in they managed to get the next set of objectives, disable security and then head over, once there they faced off with a couple of guards, Daniel managed to convince them not to attack and leave.

2 Retrieval of data was complete, they headed back and had to face off with the corrupt sergeant and then make their way out. This didn't entirely go to plan, the biotic shockwave knocked back most of the team and then threw the others off balance, Shepard started to fight back with Daniel and they ended in a melee situation with the opposing squad.

Breaking the nose of the sergeant, Daniel shot her in the face and walked off, and then was confronted by another squad. They dealt with them as well and then headed back to Lorik.

3 They had spoken to Gianna and then gotten the garage pass, and then they called the Normandy to deploy Garrus's team along with the Ballista tank. They were about to leave when Daniel heard something and then a bright explosion followed by GAME OVER.

"Fuck, why is it all the time were at any place like Noveria that requires our direct attention is it that we have to deal with these mother ******." Shepard yelled.

"How long is Daniel going to be out?" Ash asked.

"Another minute, those guys really know how to hit." Tali said holding a Omni tool to his suit.

"Jorge can you wipe the deck already?" Shepard asked.

"I'm on it." He said.

In a few moments a hail of bullets ripped through the air, the chain gun seemed to spit fire in a blazing rush of ammunition and not stop, the barrels glowed as the enemy geth were chewed to pieces by the lethal barrage.

"Clear." Shepard yelled.

A grenade from her assault rifle pinged off and smacked into another juggernaut, the machine flew to pieces and came crashing down on another unit. It was when one got to close that Tali kicked in.

"********* ***** You ********." She yelled.

A Kick back from her shotgun and it splattered the plasma over the ceiling and the floor, looking at the carnage from the fire fight, the two teams agreed.

"We might need more fire power."

XXXXX

That's all for now…

(We'll I'll be back soon.)

BTW here are some new stories that have launched

HaloBSG2003: A path to salvation

This is my Halo/ME/WOW universe; this occurs 61 years after the FCW and 6 years after ME3. The Cylons have actually lost and are being chased, but they have a very large fleet from their destroyed civilisation and are heading away from Cyrannus.

World of Warcraft: Halo's Call

2550: A group of soldiers of operation Faith go missing, Himitsuki-ALPHA 5 must now gather his remaining brothers to await rescue, but what magice have they stumbled upon in the world of Azeroth? Here is a new and much better improved story than the last


	28. Chapter 24

CH24

(That's right I am back Mother **********)

We have great news here at LSCC, I'm going to allow for you guys to VOTE ASAP, because I hadn't managed to get back into this story in a long time and I want to thank you all for the views and for your comments.

Don't worry we'll continue the story, and I need to get to rewrite on this story soon, I kind of worked out a few kinks and it will take a while to get everything adjusted. Wish you all for a good read and enjoy!

RE: VOTE IS AT THE BOTTOM: WE HAVE VERY IMPORTANT CHOICES TO MAKE NOW!

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The Long Night of Solace…

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Noveria

PEAK: 15

After an uneventful trip dodging missiles and bullets and the occasional snow ball, Alpha team consisting of Daniel, Tali, and Garrus with Anders arrived at the facility with Beta slightly behind them. The night had come to Noveria and the temperature had dropped significantly, the teams had all bunkered into the access way to get inside, though they did run into a small welcoming committee.

"Look out destroyer on your right!" Shepard yelled.

Daniel fired his Mass Accelerator DMR, the hyper velocity rounds made contact with the head of the geth, blowing the shell to pieces. He then quickly took out the next 4 geth shock troops and one rocket trooper with astounding speed.

The rest of the team had to clean up while Daniel and Jorge swept across the room with devastating fire, only exception that Jorge had the fire. Red team had taken to the rear formation and were simply watching how these Spartans managed to get to work, though in their observation they could see that Daniel trusted Jorge to get through all the obstacles with proficient ease.

Daniel switched back to his assault rifle and unloaded the 9mm hypervelocity slugs at a pair of krogan that had decided to cower behind a case. The two didn't stand much of a chance as the bullets made short work of them.

Ejecting the clip he replaced his assault rifle ammo and signalled the all clear, the teams quickly caught up and made their way to the entrance to the main facility. Daniel took point and hit the switch for the door; the door opened up and allowed for the teams to make their way in.

"Why are there turrets facing the wrong way?" Ash asked.

"Looks like they were trying to keep people inside rather than out, I guess it would make sense for a place like this." Shepard commented.

"Well to be on the safe side, I'll just rip the nodes out of these things before we head on." Daniel said gripping one of the turrets.

"Hang on Daniel; I had just come up with a brilliant idea." Tali interjected.

The Spartan paused and asked. "What idea might that be?"

Tali pulled out her Omni tool and began a hack of the drone to her right, the one that he had yet to start ripping to pieces.

"I can use this turret with an override, a little something that Vinaya taught me, though I didn't approve at first." She said accessing the turret's systems.

In a moment the turret came to life, but not in facing them with the mass accelerator attached to its head, the drone simply looked about and searched for a threat.

"Hmm, this will do, I can now control this turret, though I'll call it a combat drone, it can now be upgraded and combat streamlined." She said happily.

"Good, a combat drone to deal with crowd control, that'll be helpful." Shepard said.

"Well we better get moving, the longer we stay in this decontamination isle the more I think about fish." Ash said thoughtfully.

Without much else to say then they proceeded to the hallway, which was surprisingly flooded with snow. Daniel observed that the room's environmental controls had been disabled; he also noted the strange contact signatures on his motion tracker.

"Keep your eyes open for anything that might be crawling." He said before he loaded a shotgun attachment to his rifle.

They opened the door to the main facility, though when the door opened, there was a wall of snow…

"So, who wants to dig?" Daniel asked.

"I call first on snow angel." Ash said.

Shepard decided not to be bothered and said. "Stand back."

The team did so and she hefted a SPNKR rocket launcher, loading the double fire weapon, she targeted the snow wall. Daniel was about to ask.

"Shepard I think that the snow is…"

"BOOM"

The missile went through, though Daniel only noticed that it was less than a couple of feet thick. And the explosion exited on the other side, which sent a shock wave of snow at the team than blasting it away. A wall of snow became a tidal wave as the snow exploded in their face.

Daniel stuck out his head from the snow followed by the rest of the team. "Really a rocket, couldn't you have tried to just tried knock instead?" He asked deadpanned.

"Ha- no, let's just get out of this snow." She said annoyed.

As they all headed out of the snow tunnel, they walked into the main lobby, at first they walked to a wall until they heard an ominous sound, a creaking of metal and scratching sounds, the entire teams paused and watched in a circle.

"So, anyone get the feeling as though we walked into an ambush?" Alice asked.

At that moment a grating on the floor burst open, and a red coloured insect like being appeared, the teams fired their rifles as waves of bugs began to swarm them. Daniel went back to work and started to shoot everything that had more than 2 legs.

The assault rifles cleared the area of the insects in just moments, with the exception that Wrex had done this in seconds rather than moments. The bugs swarmed from the floor and from the vents located in almost every corner of the lobby.

A shotgun blast took out the remaining bugs in an astounding explosion… wait a moment? Daniel hefted a grenade launcher attachment from his rifle and loaded another shell. Shepard asked.

"When did you get a 40 mike?"

"Just about three sentences ago, there was a mention of the shogun attachment, so why not kick it up a notch?" He said happily.

After their interesting breaking of the laws of the 4th wall, the team proceeded to the glass hallway located up a snow cover file of stairs. Once they were up at the doorway they took the lift to their next destination.

Upon arriving at the next place that looked like a mainframe placed inside a public area… they moved to the massive computer and killed the annoying bugs that kept popping out of the walls. Daniel and Jorge mowing another line across the field arrived at lift to the mainframe. Why there was a lift even needed to access a computer, they'd never know.

"Looks like there's some damage here, there's a number of severed connections… hmm." Daniel came up with a brilliant idea.

Hitting the com. "Normandy, is Vinaya there?"

Joker answered. "Yeah she's back from her geth mission and she's taking a buff, why?"

"Tell her we're going to need support, as in link support."

"Oh, yeah I'll get her on the line."

The time it took for Vinaya to finally get out of her oil bath and get her clothes on and go and eat and then walk to her desk and then finally answer the com, Daniel and Shepard's teams had managed to fix the related problems of the mainframe.

Daniel had just finished clawing his way out of rebooting the power cells and cleaning house, Anders who had tagged along took note never to ever piss off the Spartan, since he had to hack the terminal manually while under fire and when Tali was cut off from him.

Jorge and Shepard along with Virana and Wrex, Kaiden and Ash managed to deal with the roof tops, though the reason they had such a large squad was…

"Holy S***, look out!" Shepard yelled as a mini (baling) ran at them.

Bullets and acid was flying left and right, Wrex had gotten into a fist fight with a bug and was winning…

Kaiden was flinging as many of the bugs as he could see, even though the readouts on everyone's helmet said Rachni, they kept saying bugs.

Ash was with Shepard, their ODST variant armour held tight against the mobs of bugs, the humours thing was that Ash was helmetless and she wasn't dying. GLITCH

Jorge moved off centre and kept laying down a barrage of fire while looking awesome.

That was half an hour ago…

Red team was left in their own area dealing with what remained, watching the core and waiting for the teams to regroup. Alice in the meantime beat Jerome in scissors, paper, and rock 3 to 1.

Once everyone was back, Daniel called the Normandy again.

"Normandy is Vinaya ready?"

"Yeah, she was complaining about what took you so long." Joker said absently playing Dante's Inferno.

He was about to finally finish the 3rd chapter/level, he tapped the button to transfer Vinaya with his shoe as he did have his feet on the console.

"Transmitting annoying android chick, now." He said lying back.

The transmission made it to Daniel in a moment, he felt a sting of the transfer and he then felt the mercury feeling, even though it was so cold in the place, it didn't feel as much. And as soon as the transmission finished, he heard the enthusiastic voice of Vinaya.

"I'm gone out for a bit and the place is a mess, well, better get to work." She said.

"Vinaya I need you to interface with the mainframe, the VI here is being difficult." Daniel explained.

"Right I'm on it." She said before exiting into the system, it took about 10 seconds as she figured out the annoying puzzle, and then she appeared back up with a grin on her face.

"I have control of the entire network, and thanks to your earlier efforts I have control, I have now gained access to major systems of the labs, which I might add there are bugs at the exit terminal."

"Right, well purge them and get us through." Daniel said loading his rifle.

A short walk down another hallway of metal and glass, which distinctly reminded Daniel about Sword base, they all managed to get to the entrance way to the trams. They had nothing else to see so they all boarded the tram to the rest of the labs and the major complex.

XXXXX

Lopez was having the worst time of his life, or what would be considered life, he walked about with a usual rant about the stupidity of his masters, he was about to have enough of the crap when.

"Lopez, check on your guards, I sense someone approaching, they are not to interfere with the extraction, do you understand?" She asked venomously.

He replied in Spanish. "Right you ugly blue skinned bit- I mean witch."

"If I hear another untranslated comment I'll throw you at the queen itself." She retorted.

He walked off looking for his robot marines, he made sure their directive was to allow these infiltrators to screw this bitch over so he wouldn't need to deal with her himself.

(Seriously he hates Saren and Benezia.)

XXXXX

Transit station

The tram stopped and waited as the passengers disembarked, the teams gathered and walked quietly as they carefully made their way to the labs, Shepard watched carefully for any traps or ambushes, the last thing they needed was a bunch or crazed Mexican robots flying at them with ponchos… which was exactly what was happening now…

"Fire at will." Shepard yelled.

The teams began firing wildly in the general direction of the robots, though to anyone's surprise they were actually hitting their targets. The first wave died without much of a fuss and then the second wave came rushing in with as much Doritos as possible, there was dipping sauce included.

"It's a Mexican fiesta!" Ash yelled.

"Stop being racist and finish this." Kaiden replied.

And they did so, the fight only took 1 minute as they were decked across the entire length of the lobby, the Spartans began lobbing grenades left and right. Then there was absolutely nothing left but a pile of piñata's and a lot of corn starch.

"So, who's up for tacos tonight?" Daniel asked.

They all stared at him.

"What?"

There was a pause before they headed off to the labs, Shepard made one last check as they approached the level below, and the teams stepped out into the open lobby filled with guards.

"Stop right there." A white armoured security guard asked.

"Stand down soldier, we're with the alliance." Daniel said.

"When was the alliance alerted about Peak 15?"

"Not long ago, I'm Lieutenant Daniels of the Special forces branch of the systems alliance. And this is Commander Jane Shepard." He introduced.

The employed guard stood down. "Okay then, why are you here?"

"We were sent to investigate Peak 15 as well as doing work for the council; both I and the commander are both Spectres."

"Spectres… here, why would you be needed here?"

"Because of an asari matriarch named Benezia."

"We don't usually tell about many things, all I know is that she went to the hot labs and never came back, we were hoping she would deal with those things."

"Well she hasn't and I doubt she'll ever will, so in the meantime hold out here, our teams need to proceed with dealing with Benezia."

"Well, that might be a problem; Lady Benezia has strictly ordered that no one may leave the designated zone until after cleaning the facility of those bugs."

Shepard and Daniel glanced at each other, the trade of curious looks and then.

"Okay, well we should be heading along."

The security officer stood aside, and said. "Good luck."

Once the teams passed through to the guards they headed to their next destination, the public hub where all the survivors were. Upon entering the hub Shepard and the teams could see that there were many more than just a few survivors from the facilities hot labs, there were more than two dozen.

"So where do you think we should begin our investigation?" Shepard asked Daniel.

"Look for anyone with a high status and get some answers, Red team will remain here and search and I'll go to the lower levels with my team. Shepard why don't you search the med bay? There might be someone who could help there." Daniel suggested.

"Fine, we go with your plan, split up, we'll contact each other when we're finished." Daniel said heading off through to the lifts.

XXXXX

The events that can take place inside a facility such as Peak 15 is amazing, because it took only 5 minutes before this occurred.

"So, Shepard's not here, but you'll do." An asari scientist/agent said.

"I knew that the virus needed to be dealt with, but a fucking sleeper agent? When do you people even have the time to do all this shit?" Daniel asked.

"We make do, and also there was a budget cut and we couldn't afford an extra time line or proper explanation and just said, 'hire the chick, and send her for an interesting plot twist'." She gestured to the whole scene.

"Okay so what do we do now?" Tali asked.

"Easy." Daniel replied.

It took one adrenaline rush and a very lucky throw, and soon the whole place was lit up like the fourth of July. To slow things down, Daniel threw a plasma grenade, and ducked behind a crate, Garrus shot one shock trooper in the face, and Tali sent everyone else on their way.

Everything was dead in 10 seconds and with a 33.4% chance of survival back then, it looks pretty impressive now. Walking over to where they had entered the maintenance of the facility, Daniel called back to Shepard.

"We got the cure, I'll transmit it to you so you can get us our pass into that shortcut, and I better hope that this is worth it, because I am not going to trudge my ass through that again."

The humoured laughter from the commander was all that he heard until she managed a response.

"Okay, don't worry Daniel I know what I'm doing, I got us our ticket in, I'm going to meet with you and Red team in a moment."

It didn't take long as Shepard and Red team appeared with their key for the rear access to the facility…

(Bow Chicka Bow Wow…) Somewhere in the universe tucker said.

"So let's go, I can't waste any more time looking through all these bloody crates, all I keep finding is Omni Gel and a lot of useless crap." Daniel said walking away from a terminal.

Without another word of agreement the group muddled into the next area, where a convenient looking bug was waiting, it didn't take long as Tali killed it with her drone and shoved the corpse aside to allow the team passage to the rest of the facility.

"Anyone get the feeling we're walking into a trap?" Kaiden asked.

"No." Everyone replied.

They entered the hot labs, which was just one lab for some weird reason. And once they entered through the door, they came a few feet facing the asari matriarch who seemed to be talking to a brown visored robot.

"Lopez, what's the status on the data count retrieval?"

"It's over nine thousand…" He replied.

"What nine thousand, but that means we finished over three hours ago…" She said angrily.

"Yeah, but you never asked."

Shepard interrupted.

"Can we get on with random boss fight so I can level up now?" She asked.

The whole situation changed and went…

"Okay weird… Ahem, do you know… Now I forgot the line." She said confounded.

Liara just skipped ahead. "Well we're here to stop you because you are doing what you swore your life against mother."

"Ah, that was part of it, well, have you ever faced an asari commando squad? Few have and lived."

"Well, this should be a learning experience then." Daniel said lobbing a plasma grenade and sticking the one walking over in the crotch.

The teams quickly dissipated and scattered about shooting with precision and disjointed communication, while Daniel simply began his usual snipping gallery.

The whole battle took 10 seconds as Red team went to full kill streak.

"Double kill, triple kill, over kill, killtacular, Kilimanjaro." The announcer yelled over the gunfire.

After a short screen of blood, the teams arrived to face Benezia herself, before she ended up dying, which meant that Douglas put a bullet in her brain and walked off, while Liara was crying over her dead mother with Shepard comforting her.

Daniel took to the initiative and began the interesting talk with the bug queen.

"So, what do we do?" Daniel asked.

"We could just fry her… and serve her up with some soup." Wrex said absently.

"Okay, out of the question. I'd say let her loose and let the idiot council deal with her." Shepard said.

"I say same, but don't let her loose." Kaiden added.

"Try talking some more before we decide?" Ash asked.

"Nah, it'll take too long." Jerome said.

"Hmm…"

The decision was made by Daniel who conveniently hit the release button and watched the queen go; the teams admitted they had no idea what to do next so they headed home.

Though it felt as though someone was left behind, but Daniel couldn't remember what.

"God damn you assholes." Lopez said with his disjointed head.

XXXXX

Normandy

"So Rachni? Guess we figured that out, well at least we'll be fine as long as they don't try to kill us all in the next 50 years, or the next game sequel." Ash said.

The council was present at the debriefing, this time things were interesting.

"So you let the Rachni loose? Do you have any idea of what could happen to galactic society if they were to arise again?" The turian councillor angrily asked.

"We wouldn't have to be listening to you for a start, and yes councillor we know, the Rachni were there, but we decided to give them a fair chance, we need as many allies as we can get, and we need to get moving fast." Daniel said.

"Well in that case, we have a suicide mission for you in the traverse, a STG team was lost while on a recon mission to locate Saren, we need you and your team to go in there and support them in destroying the facility."

"Right we're on it…" Shepard said.

Things went quiet as the councillors disappeared.

"Okay, we now have a suicide mission, and Jenkins had an accident last week, so he's already dead." Shepard said.

"Okay, so who do we decide to leave behind?" Shepard asked.

XXXXX

(This I now leave up to you…)

XXXXX

The meeting lasted about five minutes before everyone filed out and said nothing…

"Well that went better than expected." Shepard said.

Daniel headed off to go see Joker while Shepard went to comfort Liara on her loss.

Arriving at the cockpit he asked Joker. "How are we doing?"

The pilot replied. "Not bad, seeing as we are now safely off that freezing pit ball of a planet, I got to say Daniel but that was a pretty quick mission, and I mean quick it's like one minute you're here and then the next you're off someplace else… you're not here anymore are you?" He said to himself.

Daniel had already moved to the lower hold where he was expecting to talk to Tali, once arriving he meet with her in their room.

"So how's my favourite technician?" He asked grabbing her from behind.

"Not bad, seeing as we killed someone else's family, so what should we make for dinner tonight?"

(Leaving this for you guys, and BTW that's for all the crew including Wrex and Red team)

"Not sure yet, maybe something warm."

"Well, I better get back to work and I'm sure you need to update your team member's right?"

"Yeah, I better get back to that." He said walking to his work shop.

Though upon arriving he found that most of the other team members had been waiting, to his surprise they needed new armour upgrades for the next mission, if they wanted to survive.

"So, what do you need Wrex?" Daniel asked putting his fusing gear on.

"I need a new set of armour and a better kill marker."

"Got it, how about security class shoulders of the MKV and a nice serrated knife on one shoulder pad with a death mask on your face?"

"Could I get custom body colour with that?"

Things took minutes as Wrex had chosen the Emile style of kick ass, a death mask as added to the krogan helmet and two security class shoulders with a knife attachment. He looked almost like Emile with an awesomeness to add.

He went on to speak with the next person. "Ash, what can I do for you?"

"I need and armour upgrade as well as a suit attachment."

"Hmm, let's see here." He checked what might suit her best.

"Seeing as you get yourself into a number of close encounter situations and you do want to stay alive as long as possible, I'm going to supplement the CQC variant from my weapons cache."

The armour came up with the MKV design; he had hoped that her physical form would be able to withstand the suits capabilities, even if he toned the strength down.

"Sure, that looks like the suit for me." She said happily going to the testing cubicles.

The next person on his list was.

"Garrus, what are you doing here, I thought your suit was capable as it was." He asked.

"Yeah, well I learnt that acid still hurts and also bullets."

"So you need a new suit?"

"One built for me, a recon suit if you have it, or a scout type."

He checked his database and he found all he needed, he could adjust a single suit for either purpose.

"Okay, the scout type suits what you need then; I'll get yours up and running within a day, just come back whenever you're ready."

Garrus nodded and headed off, the new scout armour was going to be awesome.

Then next person arrived with some uncertainty.

"Virana, how come you're here?"

"I need a new suit; I thought you might be able to help."

"Oh right you still used the previous model of the asari hard suits, just wait a moment."

Bringing his databases on any other suits, he arrived at the AA- Air Assault armour variant.

"Well, this is the newest one I've managed to produce, though not I specs, it can handle most combat situations well."

"Good to hear, when will it be ready?"

"Right now, the suit's in the second cubicle."

She nodded and headed off; he wondered what would happen if people started to use MJOLNIR class suits, or more specifically what would happen to aliens that try to use them.

He didn't need to wait long as Ash stepped out from the cubicle, her armour gleamed from the fresh and new polish, and she gleamed and walked over to Daniel, who could see that the CQC was a perfect fit for her.

"Wow, nice fit."

"You think? This suit is great; I can't wait to get on the ground with this baby." She said walking off.

Ash left the room to head to the armoury; she needed her new set of guns, the DMR-MA and the many Assault rifles needed fine tuning for this thing.

Kaiden appeared to be next as he arrive through the door.

"Wow, Ash looks good."

"Yeah, but what are you here for?"

"I need a new suit, one that is specifically made for engineers, at least."

He could see the complications of the sentinel, the heavy armour was not in the slightest comfortable for someone who didn't have a lot of muscle.

"Let me see here."

Daniel crawled through the many classes of suits he had, though none seemed to fit the description for a human like Kaiden. He eventually stumbled upon something rather interesting.

"How about EOD, the suits that were manufactured for anti-demo work, they were designed for removal of explosives and taking out devices, and it is built with hard link." Daniel offered.

"As long as I don't have any more chaffing between my thighs, I'm fine." He said.

There was a moment before he headed off and Daniel continued with his work, the door opened to the second cubicle where Virana stepped out.

"So how do you feel?"

"Really… light, I feel interestingly light weight."

"Okay, how about muscle reflexes?"

"Good, I do like how they made the helmet."

"Yeah a lot more feminine hope you like it."

The asari walked out of the door way, Daniel made a note to make a suit for Liara as well, he needed to get everything ready, and as he went back to work Shepard stepped in.

"So, I hear that everyone has been getting Spartan upgrades? Why wasn't I told?" She asked.

"Because you didn't arrive here or ask." He explained.

"What suit do you need commander?" Daniel asked.

"I need a suit made for field missions and nonstandard combat zones, made to take beatings and a lot of fire, and also black and red."

"Let me see what I have in the inventory." He said checking.

There were a few suits that fit the commander's description for what she needed; he located one of the best he could afford for her.

"The JFO, made for commanders, it is best suited for the task of field missions, and operations." He explained.

"Right, I'll take it."

"Go step into the external suiting rig, the thing isn't as easy to put on, and also, do you require a tactical pad?"

"Sure add one as well and see how that goes."

He let her go on to do her thing; Daniel had a feeling as though she was going to need a while before she was ready.

Waiting once more, he heard the doors to his workshop open again, and this time it was Tali.

"I thought you said you had work?"

"I did, that was over three hours ago."

"Oh, well what can I do for you?"

"Well, everyone seems to be getting new suits, so I chose one that you might like."

He looked at a data pad that she had produced; he looked with intent and interest.

"You call for a tall order Tali, but I can make do, just wait in cubicle one, I'll be right over."

Tali nodded happily and stepped in, Daniel asked.

"You do realise that once your suit has changed, there is no going back."

"I know, but it looks so good, and so smooth, besides more time for you right?" She teased.

He sighed and shook his head before he began her transformation.

He went back to his desk again only to have another person walk in, he was about to say.

"Anders? What are you here for?" He asked confused.

"I heard that a certain Spartan was making suits for other people aboard the ship, and by the way Jorge and Red team are heading down as well, and your AI accomplice."

"Great, just what I need, well get in line, I better get his over."

He moved to his workbench and began bringing up what he needed for the next part of the day.

"So, what do you need?" He asked.

"I need a suit for myself, and one that can work well as a support suit, for team mates."

"I see, so this is for Garrus?"

She paused and nodded.

"Don't worry Anders, everyone already knows, and besides, I have a suit perfect for med work, MP class with a trauma pack should suffice, I'll let you know when it's ready."

"Thanks Daniel." She said before leaving.

There was a momentary pause again, until the door opened once more this time revealing a group of 4.

"I know the new suit variants are rolling right out the bloody window, what do you guys need?" He asked.

There was a surprise as they were usually addressed in another manner, but this was Daniel and he was straight forwards in his observation.

"We just need a look at the MKVI." Douglas said.

Daniel froze in place; no one was supposed to know about the MKVI armour until after next month."

"When did you learn about the MKVI?" He asked.

"Just recently from a little birdie, who decided to peep in our ears."

"Great, Vinaya, I should have known."

Spartan red team was of course wanting to test drive the new armours, they had heard much from the different types, as this new suit no longer required a medical pack as it stored itself with the meds inside. And the new shields and all the added constraints held back by the technological difference.

"Fine, hold on a minute, I'll get those ready, but what types do you specifically need?" Daniel asked.

"Recon, EOD, and an EVA design, with a heavy armoured variant for Jorge." Douglas said straight.

"All those, wow, I'm going to have to say that you'll be waiting for a while, those suits are going to be ordered from Nova Corp within the week."

"Fine we'll just wait." Jorge said.

"Okay, come back when it's ready." He said.

Once all the Spartan II had exited the workshop, someone else entered.

"So, how's my darling knight in shining armour doing?" Vinaya said.

"Fine, just great, why did you tell the Spartans about that new suit that was coming out, I thought I made it explicit to not give away secrets."

"Well, it was interesting to see your reaction but also because I recently heard of a large geth movement within the region, thought a bit of support might hold out better."

"Great, another assault front, is there anything those bloody things do either than piss people off?"

"No, probably not, and I doubt that it would matter anyway. Oh and by the way, I need a suit."

"Oh for the love of, fine, I'll get to work on it, what do you need?" He asked.

"I need an air assault class suit with the works."

"Okay that shouldn't be hard, I'll get the suit ready by tomorrow, and I already have enough on my plate as is."

"Fine, but I want it coloured red, with black and white." She said and left.

He breathed a sigh of relief until another person came walking through, he was about to throw a spanner at someone.

"Daniel good to see you, I need a suit." Liara said.

"Oh, Liara, I already went ahead with your suit."

"Could I see it?"

"Sure."

He activated the display which allowed her to see her unique suit, it made her pause before she said.

"Can I have EVA?"

"Sure, I'll just adjust that."

She left shortly but not before Shepard stepped out of her pod and said.

"Jeez Daniel you weren't kidding, this thing took forever just to load out."

"Well no surprise there, how do you like it?"

The T shaped visor looked about, her armour also consisted of Multi Threat and the JFO shoulders with FJ/PARA legs and a tactical case.

"Nice look." Daniel said.

Shepard simply smiled behind the visor and left.

"Well looks like we have another Spartan to add to the team, I better start calling in for more weapons." Daniel said.

There was shortly another beep and then out stepped Tali, in her new skin tight suit, which of course had a triple layer of padding and thickness to reduce any risks, she had also had an EVA helmet that smoothed to the back, the suit looked beautiful on the curves, her white tinted visor gleamed in the room.

"So how does it look?"

"It looks… awesome, beautiful, gorgeous, something that words can't even begin to describe."

She giggled and replied. "Well, I better get going, I'll see you later." She said happily.

"Damn, now I wonder if that would be what Cortana would look like."

XXXXX

(Sorry for the late update, I need to get ready on the rewrite, and I need to get homework done along with the rest of my things, please note that I might not be on this story for a while.)

VOTE-

This was which character out of Kaiden and Ashley should die?

What armour do you think is appropriate for the teams?

What ranks do you think I should place the characters at?

Tali, is EVA good for her?

Shepard and her duo, I am not sure.

Who do you think should be confronted by Saren?

Who do you think should be in Shepard's team for Virmire Assault?

XXXXX

READ HERE FOR NEW ARRIVALS

BTW: I have just compiled my next line of stories, please vote for which one should go ahead, and tell me if you want to join a specific one, I might make it, if there is sufficient numbers, and here we go.

1: Halo/Code Geass (This was initially a joke, until I started to write a few notes.)

2: Halo/Firefly

3: Halo/Starcraft

4: Cowboy Bepop/ - (I really don't know)

5: Fullmetal Alchemist/ Halo? (Tell me otherwise)

6: Gundam (N/A)/ Macross Frontier?

7: Fable/Warcraft

8: Fable/Drow tales?

9: Fable/- (Anything really)

A NEW STORY HAS APPEARED!

Galaxy of Warcraft: Frontier 7

This is a WOW/HALO/ME/GUNDAM (N/A)/MACROSS/DROW TALES Multi Universal Crossover.

(It's a joke, I only made reference and some additions, never a full blown crossover, that would drive people crazy.)

(Please note that this takes place after my HALO/ME: Ascension and ME:3 Story and takes place 50+ years after Halo/WOW: halo's call. This is an actual sequel to my entire universe at one point,

The year is 2611; it has been over 4 years since the end of the Reaper wars and the rise of the USR and the Empire. It is has been the end of the dark crusades and the war of the old gods, the species of Azeroth have begun their journey into space, but there are many dangers of colonising new worlds and many trials.

The alliance and the Horde ended their war of the stars nearly 49 years ago, and peace had been brought by princess Sera Wyrnn in the final battle of the Cosmic Age. Now the alliance pushes to the edges of space where their territory crosses with those of ages past, and an old foe returns with a new purpose…

Aeon Novara

A world like a pearl, sat in the void of space, this was one of the first worlds that the alliance had colonised when they used the Covenant Subspace Trans-light system, when they arrived they called this world a pearl in the endless ocean of sand.

On the surface of this world the alliance races built their new homes and built a society much like their own, contact was maintained with Azeroth for many years and still is to this day, though teleporting no longer is possible, they use many space-faring vessels.

One of these vessels called the Frontier sat in the docks in orbit of the world, its dome like structure encased an entire population inside and allowed for it to travel the galaxy and colonise new worlds. It was to set out on that day… the day Aeon burned.

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Subspace port 11-109

"Commander, I'm picking up unusual readings, they say that there's a dark spot of high energy concentrations approaching at L9." An ensign called.

A senior officer appeared his greying hair still as handsome as ever, and yet his complexion was bitter, not from time, but from what was happening.

"That's not an anomaly, that's a contact signature, and not only that, it's them…" He said ominously.

The ensign looked in surprise, he had never heard of what 'those' beings were.

"Call up command and signal for an immediate contact at L9, we have incoming hostiles." He ordered.

"Aye sir. Contacting command." The ensign replied.

The commander simply sat back in his chair and watched from the listening post, he knew what was coming and soon. 'After all these years and those damn Drow think they can come waltzing in?'

XXXXX

Designation 11: Frontier 7: Fleet 117

Inside the glass like dome the winds whipped about, Alto Proudmoore attached to his VF-R1 exoskeleton boosted across the open air, his dirty blonde hair ruffling in the wind. He soared across the skies as much as he could before heading down because of the sky dome warning him of "Maximum Height".

He sighed as he obeyed the warning and simply glided back to the academy. Alto Proudmoore, aged 16, top ranked in class, best pilot out of 200 simulations, and has the most skilled combat capabilities. He was remembered much like his great grandfather, though he'd rather not try to live up to what that man did in such a short time.

Andrew lived by himself on the Frontier 7, his family stayed on Azeroth, with the exception of his brother who was in the 049th armada, and his sister who was captain of the main defence fleets on Aeon Novara. Yep this was his family always the military types, and those who have done great things in war.

He himself never liked as much of the idea of conflict he just loved to fly, but he was born on the colony of Vince, though it was during a vacation with the family when his mother went into labour, he lived on Vince until his mother moved here, and then she headed back to Azeroth.

Now Andrew lived here, the only place he knew of the best, his childhood had been to reach the skies or something much like it, he'd make it as he promised himself.

Landing back at the academy he was greeted by his friends.

"So the unlikely prince of the skies returns?" A blonde haired elf asked adjusting his glasses.

"Really funny Michael, I'm pretty sure they have another award lying for the achievement whore." He retorted.

"Hey that's not funny; I earned those fair and square."

A younger teen sighed. "Well it's like those days again."

The trio paused before chuckling to themselves about their routine.

"So Chris, how's Emma doing?" Alto asked the younger teen.

"She's fine, just had a bad lunch, and also because Gorrim asked her out again…" He trailed off.

"Whoa, twice in one week, he really must be trying hard." Michael teased.

"Hmm, yeah, though I'm sure that there's nothing wrong."

The trio continued to talk, unaware of the galaxy outside the dome colony ship.

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L10

Across the void of space a silver form of ships took position, their bulbous shaped designs and silver colour made them stand out against the void of space. The lead ship and by far the largest, Quantaina, held her position above the majority of the fleet.

The impressive ship finally came about as a spark of light in the distance became active.

And then all hell broke loose.

A fighter designated the AVF-21 was much like the UCAF XV-I Striker combat fighter but resembled an early earth jet fighter. The small but surprisingly fast fighter came about and fired a cluster of missiles in a debris field, the missiles created the diversion it needed to escape the Darkling Assault Armours.

The black humanoid armoured units tore away in order to escape being struck by cluster of missiles, it took cover away from the attack so that it could locate the Striker Mobile Assault Versatile Frame.

On the other side of the field a rugged man sat in position with his suit, the neural interface warning him that the contacts were still out in the field. The motion trackers beeped as a contact moved about only a short distance away, he knew it was a combat drone.

Pulling his suit out from hiding he took one clean short at the humanoid robot, the beam repeater fired off a dozen rounds and ripped the small drone to shreds before it could react.

It was then another two contacts appeared, the other drones closed the distance on him, bringing his repeaters to bear on the next target he began firing again, this time the rounds only damaged one drone and left the other to chase him.

Gunning his suit to maximum he drove the AVF Striker out from cover and accelerated across the debris field.

"Damn drone, hope you like this." He said.

The trigger clicked and released a dozen clusters of missiles as he broke past a hull piece of a destroyed alliance cruiser.

The drone only fleeted when it saw the cluster, but was far too late, the missiles reduced the contact to bits and pieces.

AVF Striker- Call Sign: Ghost. Ghost checked his sights, he was sure that he had taken all his targets and relieved as he brought his suit about to return home.

And there was a black suit, with a beam sniper…

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To be concluded…


	29. Chapter 25

CH25

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Look upon the dawn…

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(Hey guys, well here's some awesome news! Halo 4 and Halo 1 remake, I've played all the halos since the first in 2001 and have lived to see it prosper, and I'll continue to play until who knows when, but I do have some problems with how there were inconsistencies in some of halo 4. Oh well, we're now heading to the next set of events!)

RVB Team will be back at the end, I just need to finish the main story line and I'll throw them back in, and also I need them for something special later on, but you'll get to see the more darker events in the future! And also a special chapter at the end reveals a new set of rules, so VOTE at the end, and please review!

And I need to RW in about another 3 months so, I won't be back after a long time, thus why I intend to finish this ASAP!

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Somewhere in the galaxy

The skies were clear, the skies were cold, and it looked so beautiful to look up to the sky, though Cortana couldn't figure out why. The endless sea of stars, suns, stellar pulsars, the endless waves of interstellar phenomenon's, she couldn't figure out why she took such an interest on such a dead world, it was empty here, it was cold.

"…the brightest burns the quickest, and so I burn, to nothing." She said to herself.

Here she stayed lying next to the armoured figure in the cryogenic tank, his sleep was undisturbed the frost cleared under her hand as she moved it over his scared armour, it heralded the many battles and the struggle. John had overcome so much and now he could rest.

"But nothing lasts forever…"

She looked to the skies once more from the window of the Cryo-bay, she knew what was coming.

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(READ THIS VERY CAREFULLY!)

Arcturus

Normandy

Deck 2- crew level

Daniel had to deal with more than just a few problems, he was dealing with more than ten problems, he had to deal with the teams new organisations, such as Anders and Garrus and him and Tali. The Spartans had had to also deal with their new armour, the MKVI had arrived the night before.

They were now at Arcturus space station, the station had been here at their disposal for their resupply, and also for their special package. Vinaya had been prepping the suits for the next mission and testing their combat capabilities and efficiency.

The testing had gone well; with only three MKVI the Spartan II could still probably kill everything within range and sight of themselves with ease. There was only ample amount of time before they needed to continue on their mission, with just one important thing that needed to be taken care of.

Daniel was looking for an engagement ring or something similar. But one that he could use for Tali, seeing as she was still partially restricted to her suit, but seeing as she had changed her suit once more with the elaborate Eva design he had been looking for something that would work well for her.

"So, platinum with iridium does that sound good?" He asked Jane.

"I wouldn't know Daniel honestly I'd think you should get Tali just a normal engagement ring, gold is still good." She suggested.

"Yes, in tradition, not with aliens." He replied.

"Yeah, but still Daniel I think an engagement ring should at least symbolise some tradition."

Ashley jumped in. "But come on scuttle butt, the Lt needs a ring, not a reminder, I'd say get her something fabulous, or shiny, it really depends on how you feel for her." She offered.

Liara also appeared and voiced her opinion. "I'd say that you should give her a necklace as a sign of your affection or a bracelet, they tend to be more visible on the outside of a suit."

"Good as that maybe how about a modified specialist Omni-tool? She loves tech and her skills as an engineer might benefit with a nice tool, and giving a quarian a piece of tech like that is as good as saying 'I love you'." Vinaya said popping about.

"I think you should you use a holo-pic, and have her with you for the picture, they tend to last longer." Alice 130 suggested.

Virana appeared and interjected. "Probably not, I think she deserves something special, like a biotic ring!"

"Man they gave those out a lot back at IHW (In Harm's Way – Indigo Hart's Works), besides this is Tali we're talking about, what kind of biotic ring would work for a techie?" Ash replied.

"Well dammit we better think of one I can order soon, because were on the mission in the next week and I don't have time to come back." He stated.

"So what will it be?"

(Choose and engagement ring or present for Tali!)

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Normandy

Once all the supplies and tools were set away, and the ship was restocked all members of the crew were ready for departure from Arcturus, the ship jerked away from the magnetic clamps of the dock and headed out, the frigate then made its way to the relay, and soon jumped out of system.

Down in the hold of the ship, Wrex examined his armour, Garrus was focused on calibrating the Ballista, and Ash was speaking to Shepard over some happier moments of their lives. Daniel B312 watched in humour as he saw them laugh over a joke about where to go next after the mission.

Daniel went down to engineering, not speaking to any crew either than a usual nod or wave, he arrived to see Tali, working away at the console for the engines, she was humming to a song that was playing inside of her suit, though it didn't mean she couldn't tell that someone was on approach.

She turned about as Daniel met her face to face, or in this case, visor to face.

"So, how're you Tali?" He asked.

"Good, just finishing the usual maintenance checks on all functions of the fusion drive, just curious when we might see an actual slip-space drive." She replied.

"Well not too long, from what I hear, Serina and Dot have been working full tilt to get the new slip-space drive ready in the week, we'll see it when we get over to the citadel after the mission. By the way, how was the geth data?" He asked with apt curiosity.

"It was useful, to say the least, it was everything that my people may need in the long run, well either than our home, but nonetheless it will help, thanks Daniel."

"You should probably be thanking Shepard; she went downwards and over her head to get that data, along with me trying to punch my way out of an entire squad." He chuckled.

"So, why did you come down here to talk about, I'm sure that there's more than just a friendly chat?" She enquired.

"Well true, our mission to Virmire is soon and I need to ask you, if you could stay with Jorge and Virana, they'd be the best form of support for the mission and also because they're the last team."

"Wait, you're putting me in the rear lines?"

"It's for the best, the assault on Saren's base of operations isn't going to be easy or simple, from what I heard the mission alone is going to be hazy, Shepard agreed to put you in the rear as well, we need you to help in case we need support, and besides you'll be safer with Jorge."

"But why do I need to be away from you?"

"Because of the risks, I don't want to risk you in the battle."

She seemed to understand, but she wasn't happy that Daniel wouldn't take her along, she sighed.

"Fine, but promise me you'll meet me afterwards."

"I promise." He smiled.

XXXXX

Daniel made his way to the room that had Red team preparing with the MKVI, he opened the door and entered, he was greeted by the older Spartan who saluted.  
"Commander on deck!"

The others saluted as well as Jorge.  
"At ease soldiers, I may be an officer here, but I'm still a Spartan."

They dropped their hands to their sides and nodded.  
"How are the new suits running?" He asked.

Douglas replied.  
"Fine sir, all suits are operational, some minor implications, but nothing that Dot or Vinaya had been capable of fixing, and all suits are prepared for use."

"Good to hear, I need to go over some details with you before we land."

They all huddled in as Daniel activated his omni tool and showed them what he planned.

"Recent scans of the region state our safest route is to drop onto a coastline nearby from orbit, I'll be going down with Shepard and Garrus' team first, the rest of you will be sent along to the 3rd gate via HEVs, and Jorge will come down with the Normandy to secure the beach once all the AA batteries are disabled, any questions?" He asked.

"No sir." They all replied.

"Good, we're all in this to the end, dismissed." He said with a salute and then departure.

Daniel headed to his work bench, the additions to all the teams needed to be completed, all the suits that he had previously adjusted and shaped for all members of the mission had been compiled and completed, he was now ready for just about anything.

He walked past the mess hall where Kaiden was working on fixing one of the vents, and where Virana was drinking coffee, then he walked past Liara who had just exited the med bay and was headed off to get a late lunch.

Daniel arrived in the CIC via the lift, he still couldn't believe that the things were still slow even after improving them; he either believed that the lifts had something against him or they had a serious problem with the programming.

Once on the CIC he walked to the holographic display, and checked the galaxy map for the arrival point for Virmire. Another 3 hours and they'd be there. He just couldn't shake the feeling as things were going to be worse than just this mission.

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Virmire

Orbit-2.5 hours later

Daniel had a short rest and then a quick over view of equipment, he made sure to double check his gear, his DMR carbine was in order, and his dual SMGs, and enough ammunition to blast his way out from a covenant cruiser.

Walking down to the hangar he was greeted by Red team which had already prepared for their HEV descent and the Ballista which had been fully loaded and prepped for the combat drop. The Warthogs had all been suited and ready for the mission and Shepard was currently amassing her teams.

Shepard had her JFO armour still on, she had no qualms about it, she hefted another ammo case to the Ballista and made sure to load the vehicle with spare cases, she had Garrus who was in scout armour and then Liara nearby who had her EVA, and then to Ash and Kaiden, who were both prepared for their part.

"Are all teams ready to begin?" He asked.

They nodded, he nodded back and hit the switch, the rear hangar bay doors opened, and they were staring out into the atmosphere of Virmire, it looked more or less like a tropical paradise rather than a threatening base.

"All teams to your stations!" He yelled over the coms.

They hurried, the Ballista was loaded by Daniel's team, and the warthogs manned by Garrus and Shepard's. The HEVs were set and ready for departure, once the position was marked all their vehicles were running hot, the atmospheric re-entry packs for the hogs were attached and the Ballista.

Once they were over the DZ, Joker signalled for the descent.  
"All passengers going to hell, here's your stop…"

The green light filtered in and the Ballista and the hogs exited the rear bay, the HEVs followed suit and descended into the atmosphere at ultra-velocity speeds. The plan was fool proof, it just needed to hit them hard and hit them fast.

The Ballista curved through the atmosphere at staggering speeds, Daniel and Shepard both waiting as they punched through the atmosphere at high speeds, the descent gradually lessened as they made the last 200m free fall.

"Okay, here we go, head straight and get through the defences, look out for any Colossus types and combat drones; this should be a straight run." Daniel stated.

The Ballista hit the ground with all four treads; the descent was lessened with gravity buffers and inertial dampeners. Daniel was still unused to the sudden lack of actual impacts, but he never bothered to notice, it must be melancholy thoughts of the war…

"Geth Walker at 100 meters Daniel." Shepard alerted.

Daniel swerved the massive 120mm turret at the walker, the shell loaded and fired a standard Mass Accelerator Armour Piercing round, the 120mm shell tipped with a ionic composition punctured the geth shields and tore a hole into the lower section of the machine.

The Armature was destroyed in the blink of an eye, the Ballista continued on its path of destruction as it drove over the smoking hulk. Daniel and Shepard knew that this was nothing easy, the geth might be capable of only having the worst walking machines, but they made that up in staggering numbers.

"Drones at 12 o'clock, bring out the AAs." Shepard ordered.

The warthogs trailing behind fired off their compliment of HEATs, the drones scattered to pieces as the hogs blew past. The teams went on in a direct beeline to the gate, facing only some resistance and more numbers.

As they reached the first gate, Shepard and Garrus disembarked and headed to work, they cleared the large gate security compliment of geth drones and juggernauts. They disabled the first AA battery with ease and opened the doors for Daniel to proceed.

"Okay, this should be simple enough, I'll go on, Shepard meet me at the cross point at the open area, and we'll break through to gate 2 from there." Daniel said.

"Roger that."

XXXXX

Red team hit the ground at gate 3, the impact was softened by the sand and water, but not enough to avoid detection from the geth, and they held back the enemy and punched through to the main doors.

Once there they waited for the rest of the convoy to arrive.

XXXXX

At the second gate the two teams had regrouped after taking on 4 armatures and one colossus, the battle had been fierce, with Garrus sporting over a dozen injuries and Wrex losing sight in one eye and the Ballista raking in most of the heavy stuff.

They had the second gate, at which Daniel com called ahead.  
"Sit rep Red Team, is gate 3 ready?"

"Yes sir, the gate is prepared, we'll link with once you arrive, though be on the lookout for any stragglers." Douglas replied.

"Right, we're on our way, just keep the doors open and we'll be at our objective in no time."

The com switched off, turning about he signalled for the convoy to head on, the warthogs to stay in the rear and he'd take the forward approach, that was what the Ballista was made for and what he planned to do.

Once they reached the corridor of canyons and turns they were ambushed by geth drones and swarms of stragglers. The geth had still significant forces, even if he had managed to run them down with the oversized steamroller.

The tank crushed any resistance, and Shepard and her team helped keep the roads clear, they reached the end of their trip where they were faced by the open gates and pockmarked area where Red Team had a field day.

They were greeted as Red Team came from cover and linked up with them, they jumped aboard the tank and continued on through to the last checkpoint.

That was when Joker reported.

"Commander we've landed, but we're grounded…"

"What why?"

"You better come here and see for yourself."

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The tank arrived at the sight of a dozen or more Salarians and Jorge with Tali on the beach with Virana. The teams disembarked from their vehicles and approached the STG squads, all were wearing reflective armour plates, the same manufactured when Vinaya had given disclosure to their existence.

"We were expecting to hear from the council, but this wasn't what we expected as a response." A green skinned salarian expressed.

"Well the council got your call, they were just running short on people, so we're your backup whether you like it or not."

"You're our back up? Huh, the council must be desperate."

"Well are you just as desperate?" Daniel replied.

"Good at wit, let's see you keep that when we try taking that base out, Saren's cloned an army of krogans."

Wrex bumped in.  
"Cloned krogans? Saren has cloned my people from the genophage?"

"If you mean cloned, as in created an army to fight for him and beat the living hell out us then yes. That complex must be destroyed, or this could turn far ugly than those things."

"We are not things!" Wrex said offended.

He stomped off, Kirrahae asked.  
"Is he going to be a problem?"

Shepard replied.  
"No he just needs some time."

"Well you better think of something to get him on his feet again, this is going to hamper the mission more than it should."

"We'll deal with that, just get the teams ready." Daniel replied.

XXXXX

Daniel faced the grumpy krogan.

"My people were not a mistake, we may have caused infractions in the past, but we aren't mistakes."

"I can understand that you're frustrated, but I don't think you realise what those krogans are like, if Saren is cloning them, they are only loyal to him, because he'd tell them what they should do and what they should be like, you think that you're people would be better being controlled?" Daniel asked.

"No, but this isn't right, why can't we save what we can, at least to get our people safe from what we've become." He replied angrily.

The krogan turned his shotgun on Daniel, who reacted fast enough to draw his M6 and aim it right at his eye socket.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Wrex replied.  
"Likewise commander…"

Wrex lowered his weapon.

"If we're going in there to destroy that facility I'll be happy to see it to the end, and see that smug face of that skeleton bastard go in flames."

Daniel smiled.

XXXXX

Once the matter had been settled, Daniel went to see Tali, who had prepared something special for the base of operations. She had brought out the big guns from Nova Corp. An N.1 Mini NOVA from the schematics from the Reach Database that Vinaya had scavenged for him had been replicated.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.

Tali turned about, her visor depolarised, her face clear as day, she replied.  
"Just taking this down for the deployment, I thought that this would be useful. And besides, you have Vinaya accompanying you to the base."

"I know, I just hope the defences go down long enough for you to get that thing safely and get out before anything happens." He replied.

"You know it's me Daniel." Tali replied.

"Yeah, I guess it's just you for the more technical bits, where's Vinaya by the way?"

Another voice replied.  
"I'm here."

Daniel cocked his head to the side as Vinaya appeared, her suit just recently attached, her AA-MKV suited on, she smiled behind the visor and said.

"Joker agreed that I should deal with things on the ground, Dot has everything set up, and you need a tech expert who knows her way around a system."

Daniel couldn't help but feel someone's ego just go up a notch.  
"Okay, but keep close to the group please. No need to get lost and left once we blow the place."  
He replied.

XXXXX

Kirrahae had finished his speech and was selecting his teams for the attack, he asked one of Shepard's to lead the attack; Ashley had been selected while Kaiden had been selected to help plant the bomb at its location.

Daniel had got Vinaya to plan the entrance into Saren's compound; Shepard was going with him and Vinaya seeing as they'd be most effective along with Wrex. Red Team was sent along with the combat effort in dealing with the defences.

And now the operation began, Shepard brought something out of the blue.  
"When this is all over, do you think you'll marry her?"

"If I get that engagement promise here on time, hell I'd marry her on any day." He replied with a smile.

Shadow team landed.

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Beachhead 1: Virmire

Shepard and Daniel rushed the beach defences; the geth drones and shock troopers guarded the length of the beach to the facility. Shepard and Daniel split away, Wrex following her and Vinaya taking the right flank with him.

As they approached from the outposts, they removed any defences and allowed the teams a reprieve from danger, some satellite networks that were active; Vinaya disabled the defences, Shepard heading off along to disable the other defences.

The two teams headed on to disable the main defences, the geth battling and krogan killing. They arrived at the approach to the rear entrance, Shepard ran into a few krogan clones, while Daniel dealt with the geth destroyers and juggernauts, rifles blaring Daniel tackled the nearest destroyer and clambered onto it and knifed it in the optics.

Vinaya over-rid the destroyers and made them fight each other, her cool down time rapidly recharged and sent EMP blasts to what remained, the geth went down with ease, they continued in a straight line, the drones not stopping their progress.

Shepard finished the last krogan by jumping on to its back and deftly slicing its throat with her combat knife, she dropped the corpse and joined Wrex, who was pummelling his way through the remaining lines.

"Now this is a battle to remember!" Wrex laughed.

"Sure is, we need to join with Daniel at the next intersection, come on."

They continued to rush the defences.

XXXXX

As they regrouped on the facility entry, the teams had a decision to make; Vinaya was checking the systems planning on what to do and how to get into the facility. She fiddled through the system and cleared the network and planned to enter the base.

"So we have 2 options, we can alert the alarms in different parts of base or we can deal with what's inside by ourselves." She stated.

Daniel was ready to hit the base, as was Shepard, and Wrex. "Let em come." Wrex chuckled.

"Okay, but your death wish, opening the doors."

The doors slid open, and they entered, inside the room was seemingly empty, the teams checked their sights all areas cleared. That was until they went around the corner and into a new threat, a large 4 legged machine, no neck, except for its optics.

"Move!" Daniel yelled.

The team jumped away as the turrets activated and fired on the team, dozens of pulse rounds peppered the walls. This drone was more than just an average geth, this was a geth strider, with four kinetic legs and a lot of armour, this thing was a bit tougher than your average tin.

And that was the problem, the Spartan hadn't even known on what the thing was until Vinaya had seen the thing, she named it and tagged it as soon as they saw the thing. She had her way with naming things, including the massive walking... better not ruin it yet.

"Vinaya how do we take this thing down?" He asked.

"A plasma grenade at any joint of the strider will bring it down, but not destroy it, it's essentially a mini scarab, just don't get hit by those pulse blasts, you'll be having to take more than just medi gel to patch you back together."

"Duly noted Vinaya, distract it when I signal and I'll deal with the legs, Shepard aim for the joints as well, I'll get the core." Daniel planned.

"Roger that, awaiting your orders." She replied.

The others nodded, Daniel waved to Vinaya and she blasted the crawler with a EMP blast, the unit lost shields for a moment and allowed him an open window to strike the unit. Its optics re-alinged and then began to fire as he made the jump. His weight crashing into the heavy plate, he hauled himself onto the strider and began to fire.

A few rounds and the machine was trying to knock him off, which was when he primed a plasma grenade, the grenade fused itself into the armour. Daniel jumped off and ran into cover. The plasma grenade blasted a hole into the machine which was when the others added firing power at the attack.

A mass of rounds chewed into the plate armour, and some into the optics, the suit went down finally as Daniel charged once more, but had his bayonet out, the knife edge of his MA7C. The rifle burst the plating with the bayonet and the machine finally went down.

They regrouped at the front of the destroyed strider.

"So, anything else that you detected out of place?" He asked Vinaya.

"Nothing, not yet anyway, come on, we need to head to the next point." She gestured to the lift.

XXXXX

The battle outside had reached the main complex, the left section had been taken down by Ash and Red team, they pummelled their way through the flanks of the geth and were bearing their weapons on the AA battery in this section of the wing.

Ash had successfully disabled the generator and had helped carry an injured Kirrahae, the salarian being shot by a stray round. All the teams now converged on the main entrance, Red and the STG breaking the main gates and attacking the facility.

However there were a few problems, or about half a dozen, a bunch of new geth units had appeared, walking over the place, the drones firing on them and these new killing machines. They couldn't imagine where in hell someone could possibly create an army of armoured crawlers out of thin air.

But no time to think, there was a problem and a hitch in a plan wasn't good, especially for Spartans.

XXXXX

Another hitch in their plans, the systems had been disabled for a bridge and now they were stranded on the other side, but that didn't mean that they were completely hopeless of reaching the other side.

They followed an alternate route, and found themselves in an open office, and a strange sound. An asari secretary was hiding behind the desk.

"Please don't hurt me, they had me work here as a client I swear, I had nothing to do with all those fornax pics." She said.

"Fornax?" Daniel asked absolutely confounded.

The asari realised her mistake and restated what she was supposed to say.  
"Oops, no not Fornax, I meant I was here as a formal assistant to the labs, I didn't want this position."

"Where is Saren?" Daniel asked.

"He left, saying something about discussing something with his final plan, I don't know much but he says that he'd be leaving soon." She stammered.

"Okay, so why should we let you go? From what you said, you're here as a client…" Daniel pointed his M6 at her head.

"Please no, I know other things, like Saren's lab, I just…" She pushed a key on her console and the doors opened to a lift.

"Couldn't we have just hacked that?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah, but this is quicker, okay, you've got about 30 minutes or more before this place gets lit u like the 4th of July." He said.

"Wait, you're going to blow the…"

She ran and screamed at the same time.

"You did that on purpose." Shepard chuckled.

"Hey, can't stop this now can I?"

XXXXX

Opening to the atrium of a large room, they were greeted by many lights and cold metal floors, this was a place that seemed to omit a grave presence, and in the back an obelisk of a shape stood firm. It was another beacon, and one that seemed to be working.

"Okay Shepard make this quick, we don't have much time." Daniel said.

As if to emphasis his point a massive explosion shook the base, possibly from the ballista firing its main cannon nearby. Shepard stood on the front and hit some keys in for the controls, she waited as the lights grew and she was encompassed by light.

Daniel could only watch in curiosity as she was lifted up and then back down, she made a heavy thud and then turned about, her eyes glowed a bit brighter, and that was then a red light made the room really ominous.

"Looks like we have a guest…"

XXXXX

"So you are the beings who stumble in my mind, ignorant of what you seek, and amongst you, one who stands above all. You are no threat to our kind as you were, your kind should never have returned, reclaimer." Sovereign stated.

"Reclaimer? Is that what I am to you? Or is this all of humanity that is the threat?" He asked.

"You need not know, for I am still the bane of light and life, and you shall fall as you did over those great millennia before."

The building shook and Joker yelled over the coms.

"Commander and commander, we've got company, large Cthullu with angry red lasers heading right for you, and I mean period!"

"Okay, Joker, don't worry, we'll be out soon, just get the ship on the ground as soon as the AA goes down, all teams Phase 2 and change to plan B."

"Plan B?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah, just something I had in case of this situation came about.

Plan B, the Ballista changed to a heavy firing platform and blew apart all of the AA from a safe range and allowed for the teams to rush the base and regroup, which probably brings us to this checkpoint or kill point.

"Commander they're overrunning our position here." Ash yelled.

"Commander they've gotten us down by the bomb site." Kaiden yelled.

"Well I am so glad I don't have your job." Joker Yelled.

"I'm sorry Kaiden, but Ash, she needs Shepard's help, we can't comeback for you once we've extracted her, there's no time." Daniel said.

"I understand, I'll hold them back for as long as I can, get them out of here commander." He said.

Running to the top of the platform lift the team was prepared and armed, they exited the lift to be showered by oncoming debris and metal, Daniel fired at the nearest geth and Shepard did the same, they engaged the enemy in CQC and drove them back.

It was then that Saren appeared, and with him, a brown armoured robot, which everyone kept forgetting.

"Lopez, make mincemeat of these scum I have not time, and I like my hover board not scratched."

(ESP) "Fuck you, you lazy prick, you know how hard it was to escape that mess you left me in?"

"And also make sure to clean up that oil spill its giving me a rash." He said absently not listening to the robot.

(ESP) "Fuck My Life." He said.

It was then that the fight against the robot was quick and rather annoying, with a lot of bullet spraying and missile firing the whole place was like a circus, the only difference was the missiles and lasers and the odd bolt flying by.

That was when Tali showed up and smacked the unfortunate robot on his ass with an overload.

"Well who didn't see that coming?" Saren asked.

Everyone nodded and then he threw a grenade and knocked Shepard and Daniel down he walked into the very thick smoke and he picked up Tali and said.

"Oops, I thought you were Shepard, looked heavy enough." He then realised his statement.

"CRACK" Tali was grappling his face and mauling it with her knife she had on her breastplate, and he happened to be rather unhappy with the outcome. He ran about until all the alarms went off and they paused. And as soon as Tali was distracted by the noise. He chucked her off and made a mental note.

'Never make a comment about a female quarians weight.'

XXXXX

Back aboard the ship everyone braced for the blast, on the planet, Kaiden sat in a pool of water and blood and said.

"Yippy Kai Yay… you sons of bitches…" He said to the heavens and waited for a response.

All his thoughts and memories, his life did seem to freeze and go into the abyss and then drive him to realise, nothing could have prevented all this, one way or another, it had to be like this.

That was the last statement as he was engulfed in fire, and was then vaporised into oblivion, though his body was gone, his soul would remain, and that was something that all of them would remember, especially in the coming aftermath.

The crew of the Normandy headed on, back to citadel space and back to their rendezvous point with the spirit.

XXXXX

"Can't believe that he's gone, can you?" Daniel asked.

Shepard looked at him and with a sorrowful expression replied.  
"Yeah I can't, and that's why we shouldn't wait any longer."

She walked away down to the lower holds of the ship, probably to talk to Liara and Ashley, there was many more things like this to come, and Daniel knew it, but she probably didn't. He had seen many die in war and many lost in the fight, but he knew how to hold his heart.

Daniel walked to his room and planned for what came next, if anything, there was still an enemy to face, and one that the crew had no idea about.

XXXXX

Now I do owe some people a good number of things, such as what happened to Greg and Alan and etc. And then to the crew of the RVB cast. Well, all is to be revealed in the coming chapters and with the RVB crew I'll fill you guys in for this part.

XXXXX

Operation: Freelance

The Reds and Blues had once again come together, by the accident of mishaps and what not, but there was one goal in mind, to save the archive that Tex and Wash had and save the human race and all galactic species before a new and terrifying enemy killed them all.

Church loaded his MA5C [V] Carbine, the assault rifle he was given by an old friend who worked at Nova Corps. All affiliated persons were now subsequently armed, except Caboose, and Donut. But hey there was the Revenant that Tucker hijacked back on Tyr and a lot of munitions that the reds carried, so nothing was completely wrong.

Either than the fact that the shuttle was on fire and they were going to crash into the station, all the lasers stuck out, hundreds of robots firing at their targets as much as possible.

And one merc commander ordered.

"Fire at maximum power, we can't let them arrive, or crash." He yelled.

One robot turned about and said.  
"What? I can't hear you over the lasers."

And of course the lasers were still firing and the officers all ducked. And the first was joined by the second and third.

"What did he say?"

"I don't know."

"Hey guys, what are we shooting at?"

XXXXX

It was then that the shuttle crashed into the deck and sent sparks and a lot of crap flying all over the place and subsequently tore the largest hole in the station and crashed as Tex and Wash with their Cerberus pals were surrounded.

Wash only commented.  
"That had to be the worse landing, ever, in the history of landings." He deadpanned.

Sarge appeared and yelled.  
"Hey you try and land this piece of crap; it ain't easy trying to get good working tools and machines that aren't second hand."

Church popped past and knocked the red over and ran to Tex.  
"Tex, I thought you were on Horizon?" He said.

"I was. Now what the hell are all of you doing here?"

"We got drafted." Simmons stated picking up his rocket launcher and SMG.

"Yeah, we all came when Church told us about you and the collectors. By the way where are they?"

That was when a large blast of energy revealed a very infuriated enemy.

"Fools, I shall show you no mercy."

And that was when finally after all these years; the worst of problems came back from the grave.

"Heheh."

"Oh come on, you have got to be fucking kidding us!" Church yelled.

The cold helmet visor and large armour, the biggest walking mass of titanium and armour put together once more, the Meta stood out.

The reds and blues and all of the others armed up, this was the Meta, and now it had more than just an upgrade, Tex brought out her knife and pistol while the others got their weapons at the ready, and Donut had a locust…

"What the fuck, where did you get that?" Wash asked.

"Let's just say, that I have a way with women." Tucker replied.

They looked back at their foes, hundreds of collectors and a lot of firepower to throw at them, all that was missing would be Lopez, who was still nowhere to be found and Sheila, who was in for a surprise.

"Time to kick ass."

XXXXX

Oh! I'm not telling you who's going to die!

So yeah, one main character is to die, one is to end up crippled and one is to end up with Verner in the future, and another is part of Cerberus? SO who shall it be?


	30. Chapter 26

CH26

(Here's my last funny to you all before I completely go, this is for the reds, and blues, and all the colours of the rainbow. Oh about that past racially suggestive jokes on Mexicans, I'm not racist, but I forgot to put in all the others, I couldn't really get a good idea for either Swedish or Chinese, or Japanese, but that's probably in the rewrite I'll do for this story, either than that, enjoy the last episodes of the RVB full cast, and the Meta. Anyone have that last joke about Saren earlier in the story I deleted it from my files and thus I can't get it back, also I'd like some suggestions for the ending, but nothing to extravagant, the MC needs to come back!)

And thanks to only 1 vote, we're stuck with getting Tali a ring, come on guys.

Also I'm going ahead and finishing the whole story as soon as possible, I have exams in the next month for HSC and they are the worst, I won't be back for a while… a good long while.

Happy Birthday to anyone and everyone named Chris, as my friend's birthday was today, on that note, I remember the death of a good fried Aldo, rest his soul, he died from cancer 4 years ago.

XXXXX

Operation: Cake or Death? (Anyone who gets the reference gets a medal.)

XXXXX

Collector Base

The reds and blues, and all the others stood back and watched, this was it, an army of bugs and a walking tank, if there wasn't any more of an incentive to add to their predicament the damned reaper Harbinger was in control of the damned things as well.

"Here you stumbled into oblivion, in capable of understanding what you face, and now it is time, it is time for your judgement foolish beings of flesh and… what are you doing?" Harbinger asked.

The reds and blues were arguing over what they should do next, with Tex throwing her fist about and Doc trying to get clear of Wash and his Cerberus pals. Church was trying to get things cleared up for the reds and Caboose, meanwhile Tucker was hitting on Miranda, who was ironically hitting back with her fists.

Jacob was trying to figure out what the hell the reds brought and what the locust Donut had was doing. And there was the odd fact that there was something approaching the hangar, and it was big.

"CRASH" And as it struck a single piece headed straight for the CAMERA! "CRACK"

[Technical difficulties please wait…]

The secondary camera came online, even though the last one had come at a rather hefty price which will be deducted from someone's account after this expensive scene. "Hey, what's the big idea?" Sarge growled at the author, and from ED. "Well I'm not the one who planned on crashing the ship through the front door." Sarge replied one last time. "I didn't get a better amount of time to plan for that one, come on! You know how hard it is to get a good idea, this was at least a 3 week plan… and besides you have all the foresight for this!" "Well that maybe but that's because I improvised the idea at the time, and also I was watching Spriggs for the last 8 days so don't get me started on the flaws."

Back to the story… The hatch to the small freighter opened and a yellow figure clad in armour hopped out and said. "Hey guys, did I take a wrong turn at Elysium or what?"

"Sis? What are you doing here?" Griff asked.

"I got wasted after a whole night at Elysium, and then I was on my way to my house and then I saw a pretty light… and then I just went…. On…."

"Wow I can hear the air." Miranda commented.

"Yeah tell me about it." Jacob agreed.

The Meta honestly didn't care, it just wanted to kill the fuckers who left him to die in a frozen block of ice for the last season, and that was enough to grab everyone's attention when it began to run at them. Everyone took aim to fire, except Griff who just bolted for the back and watched the whole fight. The first ones to fire at the Meta were Simmons and Tucker, their bullets hitting an impressive kinetic shield, and then they were abruptly stopped as the Meta grabbed the two and chucked them.

Sarge fired at 5 feet and pelted the Meta like a true badass while taking a few steps back and then ducking as the collector enhanced Meta pummelled the wall where he stood. It was then that Sarge fired a heavy slug the round smacking into the armour and shields and winding the Meta if just temporarily, the armoured walking tank didn't spare a second thought as it at super human speeds grabbed the shotgun and pulled Sarge away and then tossed him over to the side of the room with inhuman strength.

The rest of the group then opened up, with Donut firing with surprising accuracy with the locust walker at the approaching Meta. However they were in for some more surprises as the Meta crashed into the blasts with an energy shield, it seemed as though the collectors had thought about the UNSC tech still inside of all their suits. The enhanced shields took the brunt of the damage while the Meta ran at them.

Tex and Wash went up to meet with the Meta head to head, their hands up in defensive stances as they took to the Meta's own hand to hand combat finesse. The three clashed, blows exchanged in complex patterns, Wash and Tex were both skilled and experienced soldiers from the Freelancer Corps and weren't going to be taken down as easily as the others would. Meta dodged the batters and jabs thrown about between them, as they passed quickly into getting closer the Meta then countered, the brutal counters coming in at impressive speeds.

Wash soon found himself being hammered backwards, he wasn't going to give up, his freedom from this hell hole was almost over, he damned wasted so much of his life, and he wasn't going to let the Meta or damned anyone to stand in the way of his freedom… he lashed out and began to counter with ever growing intensity, but the Meta's own super human strength and speed was overwhelming. And with the fact that the Meta had enhancements from the collectors and the reapers, it wasn't going to be a simple walk in the proverbial park.

Tex was also under the strain of keeping the Meta at bay with her hands, the blows exchanged seemed to hurt a lot more than just bruise, she took almost a dozen strikes before she began to feel the burn from the fists of the Meta. She watched as Wash then began to formulate a means to get at the Meta from her. He took to the fight with sheer intensity and distracted the Meta, dodging a blow to his sternum he jabbed the Meta in the face and began to enrage the walking tank. The fight began to focus more on Wash and Meta as Tex took a moment's reprieve.

Wash under cut a direct strike to his face and then grabbed the Meta's right arm and then struck into the chest of the Meta and began to hammer it back with his elbow. The Meta grew increasingly annoyed and then used its free arm and grabbed Wash's left and then pulled him around in an unavoidable pummelling, the Freelancer took strike after strike to his helmet and then his visor cracked. The Meta then began to dent the suit that Washington was wearing, until a sharp crack to his hand dropped the battered Freelancer.

It was enraged, how many more distractions until it got the actual chance to kill something or someone? It turned to see that there was Tex, who had in the time that it took the Meta to hammer Wash to grab a very long barrelled Mini-mass driver-gun, the 7 barrelled gun rotated. "Hey, remember me?"

The Meta didn't even bother as bullets began to rip through the air around it, it dove right into cover as mass accelerator rounds pelted into the plates around it, Tex wasn't sure if she was missing the chance to kill Wash was a bad thing, the traitorous prick deserved to be in a number of places, but his record had been cleared as far as the UNSC or Cerberus cared.

She shoved the thought away and focused on the Meta, Wash was doing what he was doing to survive, and she was doing the same, but with a greater reason behind her purpose for being here. The mini-gun soon overheated and the heat sinks dropped to the ground as the gun finally gave out to overheat. She watched as the Meta jumped out from its cover, it had taken a light beating as far as anyone was concerned, but it was mad as hell.

"What can't take the heat?" She ridiculed the now infuriated Meta.

That clicked the Meta into a run, or by the RvB crew's term as a bolt run, the massive tank ran in a straight line for Tex. She was no honest idiot, and she knew what to do, as the Meta closed the distance, she drew out her knife and then took up a combat stance. Meta knew this same move, back on the ice shelf when the team dumped him into the ocean. Meta broke into a roll and dived forwards to then grab the black armoured freelancer.

But as he grabbed Tex he noticed something wrong, the freelancer vanished into scattered particles of light, what replaced Tex was a glowing M40 grenade. The Meta could only twitch as it was consumed by the blast. It watched as it soared through the air and landed onto the ground nearby, hitting the deck hard. Meta attempted to recover, however as soon as he limped to his feet, he felt something heavy suddenly shove him back down.

"You should have remembered that one…" Tex grinned.

Meta hadn't expected that as much as the tactics used by Washington, Meta growled and grabbed Tex's leg, but it wouldn't budge. She smiled and said.  
"Wash wasn't the only one who got an upgrade."

She absently removed her foot and then kicked the Meta over, he landed on the floor hard again, this time he wasn't just angry. He was damned pissed. He decided to abandon any thoughts aside from pummelling Tex into the floor. He picked himself up and faced Tex; he broke into a sprint once more and bolted himself at her as fast as possible…

Tex dodged the first blow and struck the Meta in the jaw in an uppercut with her fist, that didn't stop Meta, he reasserted himself and grabbed Tex's arms and slammed his knee into her sternum and then abruptly kicked her backwards. Tex regained a footing and dodged another punch; she then leapt up and twisted a kick to the head of the Meta, making him stagger back. He then threw another jarring kick to counter her, but missed scant inches as she twisted in a vertical summersault and avoided his strike.

It was then Meta realised something, he couldn't win, with all the power he had, the only result that he could come to was to finish his final directive, death. Meta continued to attack, running at Tex, punching directly as she finished her summersault, she bent backwards and avoided the attack and then countered him. Brining her legs up, Tex grabbed the Meta by the waist and then slammed him into the floor on his head.

Meta registered the damage to its visor and soon realised that its HUD was gone, but that didn't matter, it continued to make its run, Meta halted as it suddenly felt a strange feeling, it looked down to see an energy blade cut cleanly through its torso.

"Hey asshole, bet ya didn't see that?" Tucker grinned.

Meta grabbed Tucker and tossed him aside, and then as Meta brought his attention back to the fight, the whole crew of the RvB squad jumped in, excluding Lopez who is somewhere else. Also to note the fact that all the collectors were now dead and that the remaining blue suns got fried by Donut, but that's for a later explanation. Caboose and Sarge made a run, Caboose using his incredible strength to grapple the Meta and Sarge pumped a dozen rounds into the sternum of the Meta.

The armour was useless at a point blank shot, the carapace was riddled with holes, and Meta stepped up its suicidal plans and expertly shifted its weight and lifted Caboose up and swung him over his head and landed the blue onto Sarge. The crash of the two didn't stop the assault that the Meta suffered, a punch was landed to Meta's head as it was suddenly grabbed by a terrified Griff, Simons didn't like the fact that he had to beat the Meta over the head with a rifle rather firing it.

Church followed up and rammed his sniper under the head of the Meta and fired, even he couldn't miss that shot. But the Meta continued unhindered, tossing off Griff and smacking Simon's silly and then kicking Church in the stomach. Grasping its head it realised how bad the damage it had suffered began to affect it that was until.

"Hey Meta…" Turning about he was shot.

Sarge recovered with his shotgun fully loaded in record time, the buck shot snapped the Meta back, the armour finally gave out, but even as blood began to pour from the wounds Meta walked on, threatening to rip apart Sarge, but Sarge took a few steps back and fired as he went. (I love the Halo 1 shotgun; it was overpowered and awesome at a heck of a lot of ranges.)

"Come on boy, you… think you can take me on?" Sarge smiled. "Nobody ain't taken on Sargent Murphy Miles in ten years, just' cause I hated being a lieutenant didn't mean I ain't competent."  
(I took it to liberty to think up a suitable name, and also I think a few of those who know who Mitch Miles Murphy is then you'll get the idea.)

A few more shots before Meta grabbed Sarge by the throat… again and tossed his shotgun aside. As he was being strangled he grunted.  
"You knocked my 'SHOTGUN' away…"

The others didn't get it… "SHOTGUN DAMMIT!" That was the cue, a moderate rumble and the Meta noticed something, what was that sound? "Hey asshole!" Griff yelled.

The warthog slammed into the Meta's side and then onto the front bumper and drove it into the group of collectors who suddenly realised what was happening. The Meta was stronger enough to take the damned car, but what surprised it was the fact that there was something inside the car… a constant beeping and then a loud blast of noise, 5 high explosive orbs of M70 Anti-tank explosives lay inside.

The Meta could only think. "Son of a Bitch…"

The resounding explosion knocked everyone over, Miranda and Jacob had only finished calling for help when they watched the whole spectacle unfold, the Meta was sure not to get out of that right?

And thus we should be thankful for Sarge who quotes.  
"Heaven ain't getting up again now… ha."

The others recovered to see what had happened and they all agree.  
"So what now?"

"THUMP" The group looked at the spot where Meta had been. "You're fucking kidding us…"

The rubble exploded, the Meta stood out, its helmet glowing and its body altered, it looked as though the collectors did more than just fix him up.  
"We are Meta, we are the ascension!"

(Second Last, or Third!)

XXXXX

Normandy

In the opaque coloured interior of the Normandy the crew bustled about, Shepard had received the images of the next location, the place was identified by Liara as Ilos and with that being confirmed Shepard and Daniel had planned out their next action. However things hadn't been as simple as it was earlier, the council wished to speak with them before doing anything.

Daniel was being debriefed once again, this time with the crew, he was adamant about having the Citadel being reinforced if his fears were right. He watched as the councillors materialised once again, the whole team was here, including Dot and Vinaya.  
"Commander Shepard, Lieutenant Daniel, we have gone over your final report from the events on Virmire, we send our condolences for Lieutenant Alenko, but this was for the best."

"It happens in combat councillors, a hard decision we had to make." Daniel responded clearly.

All of Noble knew of the sacrifices and thus this was no different, the only thing that they could do was continue their efforts to deal with the Geth and the Reapers. Daniel listened as the council replied on his suggestions of the defence of the Citadel and the search for the Conduit. The attack on Ilos in the edges of the Terminus systems was critical on stopping the reapers from returning.

Valern addressed them clearly. "Lieutenant Daniel, we have taken to your suggested defence and have called the Citadel fleet to full alert if Saren was to launch an attack he would find no grasp."

"What about the Conduit, Ilos is the critical point amongst all of this, if the conduit is there, then the reapers will find a way to get to the galaxy, we can't risk this."

"We also can't risk startling the Terminus systems lieutenant, the presence of a fleet near the Terminus systems will spark the systems to begin a confrontation to which may as well end violently. That's a worse risk to us than what Saren is threatening the Citadel with." Valren replied.

Tevos added to Valern's statement. "You need to see from our point of view lieutenant, the Terminus systems are well beyond your jurisdiction. The fact that following your suggestion will most likely start a conflict with the Terminus systems is too great a risk, their situation is chaotic at best and can be highly unpredictable, but should a Council fleet appear the Terminus systems may unify even temporarily to threaten the stability of the galaxy."

"So what sit on our asses and wait for the reapers to appear? Saren's not going to bother with the fleet; he's going for the conduit while you're sitting ducks." Shepard said annoyed.

"Commander you should remember your position, the citizens of the council is unwilling to risk being put in danger." Maelon replied.

"Well then how are we going to defend them if the threat is sitting right on their front door?" Daniel countered.

"As we have said Lieutenant the fleet will be waiting for them to make their move." Tevos attempted to assure him.

"If this needs to be further discussed then we shall decide, for now you and the Normandy must wait." Valern said hastily.

The communication cut out and Wrex said.  
"Those bastards think that Saren wouldn't attack? Huh they are either really blind or just stupid."

"Or both, this is why I think that the sheer amount of Bureaucratic bullshit that they shove into everyone's face is pointless, I don't even want to know what they think they're trying to avoid."

"Probably accepting the fact that there's an actual threat, damn I have politics." Shepard commented.

"We'll we better prepare, I have a feeling that things aren't going to end well." Daniel said as he walked off.

XXXXX

After the meeting Daniel sat in his room with Tali, she and him had been quiet for over 3 hours, which was a record considering this was their room, the fact that the decision weighed so heavily on Shepard to make sure that the others lived even at the cost of one other was a burden he didn't wish to carry even with Shepard.

"So, I guess this is just being part of war?" She asked.

"Yeah, you know the feeling now, but don't get too caught up in it, you only knew him as the guy next door." He replied.

"So, what do you think we should do?" She asked.

"Just keep up our job, the galaxy needs saving, and Kaiden wanted us to succeed. I'm sure that he's quite contempt with his decision." He said.

Daniel had received the package only the few hours after Kaiden had died, the small ring looked perfectly crafted, this was marriage, he did wonder what it would be like, finally dedicating his life to something either than killing or duty. He honestly didn't know what he planned to do now, the ring shimmered in his hands in the lighting of the room.

'Was this the best time?' He thought. He was hesitant and he didn't know if this was the best time, but after such things had happened in the few hours, he might as well have just gone to the gym, but the ring was in his hands now and he wanted to make sure that this opportunity didn't pass him. He looked over to her, and then he asked.  
"Hey Tali?"

The quarian turned her head over to him. "Yeah?"

His mouth felt dry, probably arguing with the council, but he couldn't care less, he had stared down at the most fierce living beings in the universe and had lived to see another day, what could possibly make him so hesitant in this?  
"Tali… will you marry me?"

XXXXX

"Okay, Garrus, why now?" Anders asked as she lay next to the turian in their shared room.

"What is something wrong about what to do in the future?" He asked.

"Oh, don't play coy with me; letting me stay at your place after the hunt for Saren? What do you take me for?" She said with a bit of mock cheekiness.

"It was just an offer…" He said innocently.

"I was kidding Garrus." She kissed him.

It was then a loud scream came from the outside of their room.  
"YES!"

XXXXX

Viriana and Jorge were sparring; this was what they did for most of their time as a couple, if one was to assume that they were an actual couple. But this partnership that they had seemed to work well for the two of them, they spent their free time doing training together, and it seemed to work well. They were avoiding strikes from each other.

Viriana decided to sneak a punch as she used her biotics to amplify a strike and knocked Jorge down on his back, she leapt on top of him and said.  
"Had enough?"

Before he could answer for her query, a loud scream made the two jump in surprise.  
"YES!"

XXXXX

Shepard had to meet with her two lovers, they didn't seem to get along and both were attempting to support her for her decision, but it seemed more and more like an argument rather than a talk. The two were going at this for the whole time and there was little she could do either than pinch the bridge of her nose and simply wait for the two to calm down.

But this whole day seemed to not help with the fact she had bottled up most of her aggravation and thus she shouted. "Will you two just shut up for one moment?"

And suddenly a scream from somewhere a reply came.  
"YES!"

XXXXX

Dot was talking to Vinaya, who was speaking to Joker about using her holo form for pornography, he was trying to seem as innocent as possible, because Vinaya might accidently let him slip from his chair at full speed into the wall nearby. As much as the prospect of testing his reinforced bones on the wall, he'd rather not test fate or physics.

"Look Vinaya, what have you got to lose, you're beautiful, and I can see why most of the other guys think the same, except maybe Daniel, but still." He said.

"That's not the point Jeff, those holo images are going to spread like wildfire and as much as I like the idea of being in front of the sports illustrated of this galaxy, I think that the last thing I need is to appeal to the wrong crowds!" She said annoyed.

"Look here then, if I get a profit from this then I'll give you a cut…"

"Jeff, please don't tell me you put me on Fornax!"

He was about to just reply with some witty comeback when someone shouted. "YES!"

Jeff paled as Vinaya suddenly jarred the gravity in his chair and swung him out at full speed. He could see the wall on the other side of the CIC suddenly catch up with him as he said.  
"This is gonna hurt…"

XXXXX

"YES!" Tali screamed as loud as she could.

She had hugged Daniel and now they were on the floor, with her grasping him as much as she could.  
"So I take it that you're happy?" He asked with some surprising strain, she was gripping him rather hard.

"Yes, of course Daniel, this is so unexpected and I don't know what to say either than yes, if that's the correct way in which it was supposed to go!" She shouted.

"So why are you still shouting?" He asked.

"I have no idea! I think it's the fact I have a defence mechanism just to blabber on about practically anything to just avoid talking about anything related to a subject." She finished.

"So, how does Tali Vas Normandy sound?" He asked.

XXXXX

Sovereign

Lopez cleared out another damned mess on the floor; he honestly didn't know why Saren even bothered. But it seemed as though Lopez caught a break when the meat puppet finally decided to help him out of that frozen rock and back into action. Lopez had a pretty good idea of what to do soon, seeing as the damned asshole had his back turned.

Lopez calculated his options and weighed them on his own opinions and what he honestly thought; until conflict resolution was finished he'd then decide what to do. And if he did it right, then that scaly faced prick was going to get what for once he was done with this mess. He still couldn't believe that the hourly pay rate hadn't changed since he arrived in this galaxy; he honestly hated the fact that aliens had dislikes for other ethnic races on top of that.

"Lopez, have you seen my toilet paper?" Saren yelled from the bathroom.

Lopez laughed quietly to himself as he looked under his cleaning trolley, all the tissues on the ship, right at his fingertips… this wasn't so bad.

(He ha, Lopez is going to finish our story for us and soon the final chapter will be completed. But honestly why didn't anyone ever vote for Tali's engagement gift? I mean I posted it up for about 4 weeks.)

Our final vote before this ends, should we save the council or not?


End file.
